The First: Gathering
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: After the events of Dark Sector, Heydon Tenno vanished. His superiors had questions and he did not wish to answer them. This begins four years after the events of the game that began the tale of a man named Tenno. This is a fanfiction, I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Out of Place**

Siberia, 2012

The woman...didn't fit. Her clothing was the usual heavy bundles for anyone sane who ventured out in the middle of winter in Siberia. That wasn't the problem. Her eyes were dark over her scarf and under her fur hat, so _that_ wasn't the problem. It was hard to define, but there was something about her that stilled all the low conversation for a moment as she stepped into the tavern's main room, closing the heavy door to ward off the elements and stamping her boots to clean the snow off. She was obviously aware of the scrutiny on her, but she was either immune to embarrassment or practiced at ignoring stares. The other denizens of the fleabag bar went back to their conversation, but kept an eye on her. Strange usually equated to bad in this out of the way backwater. She walked up to the bar and undid her scarf. The face that showed had strong Slavic features and a mouth that was set in a half smile, half frown. More than one of the surreptitious watchers took a breath. She was younger than she looked in the heavy clothes. Maybe twenty five? Maybe. And her face... It was pretty, not beautiful but memorable. It showed the faint signs of excellent reconstructive surgery. _Very_ out of place in a hard living, hard working location like this Siberian town.

"You are in the wrong place, girl." The barkeep said softly in Russian. "Go home."

"No home. I was told to come." The young woman replied, her Russian understandable, but oddly accented. "Vodka?" The barkeep looked at her and she shrugged. "Is cold."

"Is Siberia in winter, girl." The barkeep said with a booming laugh. "It is _always_ cold. It _defines_ cold." He shook his head and his voice became speculative. "If you stay here, trouble comes."

"There is _always_ trouble." The girl said calmly as she laid her scarf on the bar, took off her gloves and undid her hat, showing a huge mop of sweaty black curls. "It is cold out. I will stay. I won't _start_ trouble. I am to meet... an acquaintance of friend. Vodka?" She asked again.

"Money?" The barkeep asked suspiciously. The girl quirked a smile and laid two ruble notes on the bar. The barkeep looked at them and paled slightly before nodding. The notes _were_ not Russian currency. Both were also far higher in denomination than a drink called for. They vanished and the barkeep nodded. "Sit. I will get your drink." He stepped back to grab a bottle from a shelf.

"Thank you." The girl dusted off one of the stools by the bar with her gloves and sat. She stiffened slightly as a slurred voice spoke up from nearby. She turned and only someone truly paranoid would notice that her hand slipped into a pocket as she did. But several eyes did note it and hands stayed where they were, in plain sight.

"Pretty girl." A man clad as a worker rose from his seat and staggered towards her. "You want good time, pretty girl?" The whole bar went still again.

"No." She said quietly, not taking her eyes from him. She didn't move, one hand hidden in the folds of her jacket. More than one set of eyes narrowed at her stance. She wasn't afraid. Not at _all_. The drunk didn't notice.

"I show you _real_ good time..." He said staggering closer. The smell of alcohol was strong as was the rest of him. He hadn't bathed in some time.

"Yuri..." The barkeep said softly. "Not in here." He warned.

"I take her outside." Yuri said with a leer. "What say, girl? Want ride?"

"Yuri..." The barkeep snapped, his hands _also_ not moving and in plain sight. "You take _one_ step closer to her and she will put hole in your gonads to match the hole in your _head_." A menacing bulge showed on the girl's jacket where her hand was hidden. About the size of an automatic pistol. "You..." The barkeep nodded to the friends of the drunk who sat watching. "Stop fool before he become mess in my bar!"

The group that had been staring at the girl and at Yuri jerked into motion, rising and grabbing their friend despite his cries and struggles. They pulled him to a corner booth and sat him down with a bottle, blocking his exit from the booth. Only when he was singing with his friends did she relax her stance a bit. When she did, everyone relaxed. But only a little.

"Yuri is always stupid. Worse when drunk of course. Thank you for not shooting him." The barkeep said with a sigh as he poured her drink. "Gunshots bring the constable out in the snow. The constable...does not like get called out in snow." He grimaced.

"Drunk is not a problem." The girl replied, her face still serene as she nodded to him. Her hand in the pocket didn't move. "Angry constable not good."

"This...is not good time, girl." The barkeep said as he set a full glass in front of her. "Many strangers. Many questions. Many problems."

"Always problems." The girl replied. "Strangers? You mean the two not natives in the booth at the wall?" She said as she picked up her drink. "The one at the table by the window and the one lounging against wall near fire?" She quaffed the drink and did not even flinch from the strong liquor. "My thanks. Good vodka."

The barkeep stiffened as a dark form moved from where it had been lounging to a stool nearby.

"You have good eyes." The man's voice was quiet and his Russian was good. "You got a name, tough girl?" The barkeep's hands were under the bar now and the man shook his head. "No trouble, just questions."

"Not your business." The girl said quietly. "I will meet my friend and go. I will start no trouble in this bar. I do not wish to meet the barkeep's shotgun." She said with a smile. That smile was...off. More feral than friendly. More predator than prey. "_You_ do not wish meet his shotgun. Pistol versus shotgun means dead man with pistol." She said, nodding slightly to the bulge in the man's jacket under his right armpit.

"Maybe." The man didn't flinch at all. A fellow predator. "You...look familiar."

"You will cause more trouble than you imagine if you continue." The girl said calmly. "Maybe you will learn something here? Maybe not. But dead men do not talk." She finished her drink and spun to look around the room, apparently ignoring the man who sat nearby. But he did not move.

"Most of the time, no." The man nodded, rose from the stool and walked back to the wall where he lounged again. It was utter coincidence of course that his left hand was folded over his right arm right by the opening of his jacket. Of course it was. A small smile quirked her mouth but she did not speak again, simply waited.

Everyone seemed to stiffen as the outside door opened again. A slim form stepped in and the girl was not the only one who stared as she saw that the man wore no heavy winter clothing. Indeed, his leather jacket would have been summer wear in most places. Heavy as it was, it was no match for Siberian winter. He seemed unaffected by the weather as he shut the door. He wore a fur hat, but she could tell his dark eyes were assessing as they swept the room. He nodded to the barkeep.

"Mishka. Got any of that boar left?" He asked as in excellent Russian as he took off his hat. As soon as he showed a mop of dark hair, the tension in the room seemed to skyrocket. The girl found herself staring and jerked her eyes away.

"Da." The barkeep said with a nod. But he didn't move and his hands didn't come out from under the bar.

"No one will do anything in the bar, Mishka." The man said with a sigh. "They all know better. Don't we, people?" He asked, switching to English. Heads shook around the room, only the drunks in the corner seemed oblivious. "Good." He said as he sat in a stool by the woman. Mishka started working setting up a plate of food as the newcomer looked the girl over.

"What?" She asked quietly, not defensive, simply curious.

"Lasrian." The soft word was not a question.

"Once." The girl agreed. "No longer."

"You got out." The man said with a sigh. "Many did not."

Mishka put a full glass in front of him and, after a glance from the dark haired man, filled the girl's glass again. She looked at the barkeep and then at the man beside her as the barkeep set a steaming plate down in front of him. He started to eat as if he hadn't a care in the world. The girl, after one final careful look around, took her glass and drank. But... she paused. Everything was suddenly hazy, then green. She...relaxed. What had been in that vodka? She was...clear, but relaxed.

"Lets not cause a problem here that the constable has to take notice of." The man beside her said to nobody in particular between bites. "Fair enough?"

"You are a hard man to find." The man who had spoken to the girl earlier said in quiet English.

"I am not _hiding_, Jackson." The eating man said mildly as he finished his plate. He switched back to Russian. "Excellent as always, Mishka. Tell your wife the spices were marvelous. I'll see about getting you another boar sometime." The barkeep nodded to him and he rose from his seat. "Lets go." He said to the girl.

That sounded like a marvelous idea. She put her hat back on, then her gloves, then her scarf. The man beside her took her arm as she stumbled a bit.

"Easy there." He said gently. "Too much vodka. You will feel it in the morning."

"Won't make the pain go away." She muttered for his ears only. Then she stiffened. The man who had been lounging by the wall was now blocking the door. She felt the man beside her still into immobility. Not a good sign.

"You still angling for that promotion, Jackson?" The man at her side asked calmly in English. The tension in the room soared. "Or do you just have a death wish?"

"My bet is on death wish..." The girl slurred a bit.

"My bosses are getting antsy." The man called Jackson said quietly. "You know how they get. They want an answer."

"I _gave_ them the answer." The man at the girl's side said calmly. "The same answer I gave Mossad..." He nodded to the man who sat alone at a table. "MI-6..."He nodded to one of the figures in the shadowed booth. "The SVR..." He nodded to the other on in the booth. "And all the others. The answer was 'No'. I will not work for _any_ of you."

"Hayden..." The man blocking the door sighed. "You _know_ what they are going to do."

"I know what they are going to _try_." The man called Hayden retorted, still calm. "The same thing the Chinese did." To the girl's surprise, _every_ one of the shadowy forms seemed to wince. Jackson in particular seemed to pale a bit. "Get out of the way, Jackson. Now. I will hurt you." It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

The man at the door sighed, lowered his hands well away from his hidden weapon and stepped away. One of the figures in the booth spoke up, it was female and her voice was cold. The girl paled a bit at the voice, but did not move.

"Neutrality is stupid." The woman said calmly. "You cannot win alone." Her Russian held a Muscovite accent.

"No." The man called Hayden replied easily. In the _exact same_ accent no less! "No, I can't. But I _can_ keep your superiors from making the _exact_ same mistakes that the Agency did in Lasria. And I _will_."

"Hayden..." Jackson said, his tone disapproving."That is classified information."

"So?" Hayden replied. "Mishka doesn't talk as you all well know. Everyone else in this room knows _exactly_ what actually happened. Except the drunks, but they are too busy singing."

Indeed, none of them had even noticed the tension in the room, all they noticed was the bottle they were sharing and emptying. Jackson sighed again, shrugged, and moved slowly to the bar.

"I need a drink." The man said to nobody in Russian. "Anyone else?" Nobody moved and she shook his head as he laid a pair of hundred ruble notes on the bar. As Mishka poured his drink, Jackson spoke mildly. "On my way in, I saw some shadowed forms near one building, Hayden. They didn't look like locals. My bet is the Chinese again."

"I will take that bet." The man in the booth who had been watching silently spoke up. His English had a pronounced London accent. "He irritated the DSGE too. Not hard to do, mind you. But they have _few_ scruples at times." The Englishman looked at the girl and then at Hayden. "You take her out there, she is going to get shot."

"Been shot." The girl slurred. Everything seemed to still and she spoke again. "Not problem. Better than being a lab rat." Jackson stared at her, and then he went completely pale.

"Marlena?" He asked, dazed. The others all stared at him and he swallowed. "Oh my god, girl... I am sorry..." One of the figures in the booth froze that the name 'Marlena'.

"Your...regrets...mean nothing to me..." The girl snapped, her ire blowing through whatever had been fuzzing her. "Marlena is dead. She will stay that way."

"Hayden..." Jackson said , swallowing. "Do you have _any_ idea what the Agency will do when they find out _she_ is here...?"

"She is _not_ here." Hayden replied calmly. "And your search teams, satellites and dog trackers can't find _me_. What makes you think they will be able to find _her_?" He paused as the woman who had spoke rose from her booth. She walked forward, her own face ashen. "Captain Irina?" He asked calmly.

"I... I thought you dead, Marlena. You changed you hair, your face...is different." The woman said slowly in English. "What happened?" She nearly begged.

"Marlena _is_ dead." The girl said softly in Russian, but the anger in her voice was clear. "Liars... all liars..." She shook her head. "Russian, American, Israeli... All liars... No one cares..." She staggered and Hayden caught her with one arm. His other did not move.

"Easy..." Hayden said softly. "Let's get you to a bed, girl."

"Some of us care more than others." The Russian woman said sadly. "Politics be damned, some of us _care_." She shook her head as the girl let out a moan. "_I_ never _lied_ to you!" She pleaded.

"No." The girl said softly. "But you never told the truth either. I am not angry. I am sad, Aunt Irina."

"_Aunt?_" The incredulous question came from several throats. Hayden just shook his head.

"My...sister... She come to me..." Irina said softly, her words halting. Her face intent on the girl's. "Family in trouble. Danger. She ask for shelter for her daughter. I say I can shelter whole family and she leave Marlena, go back to Lasria to get them. She... she not come back. I go to superiors, they unhappy, but accept. They promise you safe. I go back to work. Two year later, I told you dead. Lab accident." She begged the girl. "Marlena... please... _what happen?"_ She begged. Marlena looked at Hayden who shrugged.

"It is going to come out." He said softly. "Now is as good a time as any."

"I did not work in a lab, Aunt Irina." The girl said softly. "I _lived_ in a lab. I was a lab rat. An experimental animal." The woman's eyes bulged so far they seemed almost about to fall out of her head. "They took me in the night. They took me to a place like a hospital. I woke in a cage. Others were all around me, screaming in pain. Screaming as they...changed. I didn't... They wondered why. They tested..."

"No..." Iriana said, her face horrified. "No. How you escape?"

"Escape? I didn't escape!" The girl snapped. "I was stolen. By them!" She waved at Jackson who gulped. The glare that Irina leveled on him should have rendered him down to ash. "English speaking men wearing black. Came in the night. They gassed and I woke tied in a car. Then a plane."

"Let me guess, Jackson." Hayden said quietly in the silence that fell. "The Agency heard of another like me. One who was changed, but not. So of course they sent a team in to 'acquire' the subject."

"I don't know." Jackson said, his tone equally quiet. "I saw a report on her. Her transport vanished mysteriously en route to the States. That is all I know." Probably the truth. Hayden glanced at the man at the table, who remained silent.

"Well, as of now, she is _my_ problem and _my_ responsibility. Anyone who tries to hurt her or take her will answer to me." Hayden replied evenly. He stilled as Irina stepped closer. "Captain Irina..." He warned, his hand falling to his side.

"You will protect?" Irina asked, her English broken. He nodded. "Marlena.. I..."

"Marlena is _dead_." The girl snapped.

"You have no reason to trust me, Katuska as I called you when you were born." The Russian woman said sadly. "You have many reasons not to. But we are family. Now... and always..." She pulled something from a pocket. It was a small doll, made of wood. An antique matryoshka doll, one that usually had other dolls inside. "I found no obvious trackers." She cracked the doll open and a smaller doll was nestled inside it. Four times, she opened smaller dolls. Then there was a tiny hand painted doll inside. She plucked it out with two fingers and tossed it into the fire! Marlena stared at her as Irina started putting the dolls back together. "The smallest doll had been dipped in a rare isotope, to track _me_. I recommend you test, just to be sure." She said with a savage smile that became tender. "This doll was your mother's, Marlena. I have kept it close... Ever since I hard the news of Lasria. If you ever need me, you call or send the doll." She held out the doll.

"I..." Marlena looked at Hayden who shrugged again. "You will get in trouble."

"I am _always_ in trouble, Marlena." The older woman said with a fond smile. "Family trait, no?"

"Family trait. yes." Marlena said with a faint smile as her hand darted out to take the doll. Irina did not move as Marlena and Hayden moved to the door.

"Be well, my little katushka..." Irina said quietly. When she turned to the bar, her face was stone. "This _not_ happen." She stated.

"Nothing happened." The man at the table agreed. Jackson and the man in the booth both nodded.

As they left the bar, Marlena shook her head. She hadn't expected to ever see her aunt again. And like that? They walked into the wind, Hayden seemingly unaffected by the weather. Then she paused as several shadows carrying distinctive shapes -AK variant assault rifles- appeared from the shadows of a nearby building. She leaned close to Hayden and he shook his head. His cold voice cut through the wind like a knife.

"Silly. Bringing guns to a glaive fight...?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Making a Mess**

The wind died for a moment and the snow stopped blowing. The girl swallowed heavily as the five shadowed figures stepped into the dim light. All were short and wore heavy clothing. And...all of the rifles had cylinders attached to the barrels. Suppressors. That wouldn't make the rifles silent, but it would make them much harder to hear, especially in a blowing snowstorm. All the men had their noses and mouths covered. She could feel Hayden's hand on her arm as she reached for her gun.

"No unsuppressed shots if we can help it. I would rather not start a firefight in town." Hayden said quietly as the men raised their guns. He spoke a phrase in what sounded like Chinese and two of the men jerked, lowering their weapons. One of the ones in back snarled something and Hayden sighed. "Idiot..."

The girl froze as an odd sound came to her ears. It sounded like metal...unfolding? All of the men were staring at Hayden now and all had fear in their eyes. Against her will, her eyes traced down to her protector's side and... There it was. Just as it had been described to her.

She shook her head slightly. She had studied a bit, while she had recovered from...various things. A glaive was a European polearm weapon. A single-edged blade on the end of a pole, used to unseat cavalry in the Middle Ages. But many people called 'this' a glaive. That made no sense to her. This was not a polearm. Indeed it looked more like a _saw_ than a polearm. It had three insanely sharp blades that curved around the center that Hayden gripped. She could tell the blades were razor sharp from the way the falling snowflakes hit the edges and were _cut in half_. Hayden's Glaive.

"Maybe these will be smarter than the last and not do anything. Let's go." Hayden said calmly as the men didn't move. All had lowered their weapons. The girl nodded and started to move, then she paused. What? She stared down at herself, at the bright fluffy thing that stuck oddly out of her arm. She plucked it out. A dart of some kind. It hadn't touched her skin through the heavy jacket. Hayden didn't look at it, but he growled. "Tranquilizer darts. You _idiots_ just _don't_ learn." They raised their weapons again and he scoffed as the wind rose again. "Go ahead and shoot if you dare. First shot will bring the constable and you know how _he_ will react." He taunted their assailants. "You know he was in the Spetznaz and has _no_ patience for trespassers. Less for armed ones."

The men lowered their weapons and the girl felt hope, but then... They slung their rifles and drew odd batons that crackled with energy. Stun batons, she realized. They wanted Hayden and her alive! The wind had picked up again and she felt Hayden sigh through the hand on her arm.

"Get down and stay down." The voice was Hayden's but...different.

She looked up and bit back a scream. The man who held her arm had no face! His clothing had changed somehow into armor that gleamed gray. A short horn like thing protruded from where the forehead would be on a human. No one had said _anything_ about _this_! Yargo hadn't... She _did_ scream a little as a hard shove knocked her down, out of the way of a blow that came whistling in. But it did not connect to either of them. The hand what held the shock prod was trapped somehow, the man holding it dancing in obvious pain as the armored form twisted, just a little. Then everything seemed to stop as the other hand came up. She stared, totally frozen by something other than cold as the odd circular blade cut cleanly through the man. He had time to _start_ a scream before his head _fell off. _The body fell silently and the four remaining men took a step back.

She had thought herself beyond such things, but she was sure she was going to vomit. Two of the men had dropped their stun batons despite the obvious leader starting to yell at them. They drew their rifles again, but... She screamed again as the armored figure drew back his hand, then threw it forward. The Glaive flew. It flew flat, spinning rapidly. Three of the men were close to one another, and it cost them.

Before she could even draw breath to scream again, the blade had hit one of the men, slicing through clothes, flesh and bone with equal abandon. She thought... No, it wasn't her imagination! She saw one end of the man's rifle fall, cut cleanly away from the rest. The Glaive had cut through the man _and_ his rifle without even slowing down! He screamed and clutched his shoulder as his arm fell off. His scream died as he did.

Then the Glaive...arced? She stared as it flew in another direction, then changed course again, guided somehow! It was _following_ the next man who was rolling away, trying to evade it. He fared no better than his companion. The Glaive connected to his back and his body provided as much resistance as the other's had. He fell without a sound. The third managed to get his rifle up and fired. The shots were muffled by the suppressor and the wind but something green appeared in front of the armored form and the bullets did not hit him. Instead...they _reflected_? The man who had fired jerked several times, then fell and was still, many holes in his clothing.

She was shuddering in fear as Glaive came humming back towards her. The armored form caught it in _mid-spin_! Then it was in the air again and the man who had been writhing on the ground was still. She stared at the three dead men and then at the armored form, stunned. Then she jerked as a hand grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully. Something jabbed her in the ribs and she was immediately woozy. She barely felt being lifted up to stand between her captor and the armored form who turned slowly to look at them.

The armored form spoke a short, sharp phrase in a language she did not know and the man behind her replied angrily in the same tongue. She managed to dredge up some kind of emotion and spoke.

"What does he want?" She asked, her English slurring.

"He thinks that taking you hostage will make me surrender." The not quite Hayden voice was cool and clear. "Like I said, an idiot."

"Kill him!" She said, then gasped as a red hot poker slammed through her side. The sound of an unsuppressed shot was heard.

"Don't move." Hayden said with a shake of his head. "That wound won't kill you but this _might_." He threw the Glaive away into the night. "Might want to bend your head forward a bit..."

The man behind her jabbered something but she jerked her head forward, putting her chin on her chest. The man who held her shook her, but she did not react. Then he went stiff. She heard it too. The Glaive was humming as it arced around. It was coming closer! She felt the man cower behind her and then... there was a sick 'thwock' sound, warm wetness sprayed over the back of her jacket and the hand that held her arm fell away. She took a hesitant step forward and screamed again as the Glaive flew past her, seeming to miss her by millimeters. It sought out Hayden's hand...whose armor had vanished and he was clad in street clothes again! He caught it effortlessly and it folded and vanished as well.

"Yorgo was right..." The girl was shaking from whatever had been injected into her and the gunshot wound. "You are _terrifying_!"

"Yeah, I am." Hayden said softly as he stepped close. "Hang on, you have brains on you."

He brushed something off her hat that went 'splut'. She curled in on herself, collapsed to her knees, and to her horror, lost the contents of her stomach. Her scarf fell away, soiled. She had seen horrible things, _done_ horrible things and had survived horrible things that had been done to her. She had thought herself beyond gore making her puke, but... She wasn't.

"It's okay." Hayden said, kneeling at her side. "It's not a voluntary reflex and whatever that idiot hit you with is likely lowering your resistance." He patted her shoulder gently with the hand that hadn't held the Glaive.

"Hayden!" A curt voice called in English. "You okay? I heard screams and a shot!" A figure in the uniform of a policeman came around the corner of the building and stopped short. His vile exclamation in rural Russian brought a smile to the girl's face despite her pain, fear and embarrassment. When he spoke, it was in English again. Excellent English. "Oh, not _again_!" He snapped as he came close, the AN-94 he carried held in a professional grip despite one hand that was obviously prosthetic.

"Sorry for the mess, Dmitri." Hayden said with a sigh, also in English. "They just won't learn."

"Was this all of them?" The policeman asked, nudging one of the bodies with a foot.

"I think so." Hayden replied. "If not, they ran."

"And of course, _none_ of them will have ID, all the weapons will be untraceable and no witnesses except someone who does not _exist_!" The policeman said with a snarl, kicking the corpse at his feet. "'Bandits', Moscow will say. Bandits from _Beijing_!" He snapped. "You okay?" He asked, looking at the girl. She nodded, still heaving. He shook his head. "I will get the boys up, start cleaning up the mess."

"Dmitri..." Hayden said quietly as he pulled a rag out of somewhere to clean the girl's face. "I can't stay."

"You will be missed, tovarisch." Dmitri said heavily. "Gregori still rants when he is drunk that he saw golden light and an angel when you came to his rescue." Hayden looked at him and the cop shrugged. "He was delirious. He was hit by a bear!"

"He was lucky I was in the area." Hayden said with a frown. "Not like he was _tracking_ me or anything." Hayden said with a grimace.

"Not on orders. I warned him. _You_ warned him." Dmitri said with a shrug. "His own dumb fault for being curious and getting between a momma grizzly and her cubs." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the girl. "You sure she is okay? She has a hole in her jacket."

"Dmitri..." Hayden said slowly. "Don't ask. Please." He begged. "She will be okay. Right?" He asked the girl who nodded. She took the rag he held out and wiped her face. Hayden got busy wiping the girls nasty scarf off in the snow, then wrapping the less nasty parts around her neck..

"I owe you my life and my men all owe you theirs." The cop said with a sigh. "Strangeness all around. Foreign intelligence agents descending in droves. Armed men trying to kidnap people right off the streets..." He toed one of the shock prods away with a grimace of distaste. "But according to Moscow, it is business as usual. Might as well have stayed in the Army."

"Stick to the truth, Dmitri." Hayden said with a sigh. "Easier than trying to keep up with the lies. If they ask -which they probably won't since people high up want this whole mess buried-, I have been around. But you don't know where I go or how. _You_ can't track me any better than the intelligence types can."

"True." Dmitri said as he pulled a sat phone from a pocket.

"Dmitri..." Hayden warned. "Don't flash that. If anyone sees it, they will ask how you got it." Sat phones were not cheap and this one was a high end model.

"Salvage. I found it next to a body in a lab coat." Dmitri said with a nasty smile. "A woman. Dead several weeks. Be spring before I can get back to where I found her. No ID and the body is probably gone by now. Funny, she had blonde hair like the woman who Gregori insists was his angel of mercy."

"Dmitri..." Hayden was shuddering, but the girl realized he was fighting back laughter. But then he rose and held out a hand for the girl. She took it and he helped her rise. "Come on, we have a long way to go."

"Hayden." Dmitri said softly, stepping closer. Hayden paused as the Russian held out a hand. "Dos Vidanya."

"Dos Vidanya." Hayden replied, shaking the policeman's hand. "Hopefully with me...elsewhere, your life with get less interesting."

"One can hope." The constable said with a sigh. "Go, I have this. Go!" He commanded. "Before any of the intelligence snobs come out to see what the shot was about." He keyed the phone and started speaking into in rapid fire Russian.

Hayden nodded and led the girl into the teeth of the blizzard. In moment's she was utterly lost. White was everywhere. Except for the man beside her, she knew she wouldn't have even been able to make it back to town and safety. His hand never left her arm and whatever she had drunk with the vodka was keeping her warm. Or, it seemed to be. She was stumbling more and more as they walked however and her vision was blurring. Finally, they moved out of the wind and she could see past her tearing eyes. They had entered a cave. She stumbled again and could not rise this time. She tried to speak and couldn't. A hand touched her cheek and she heard him curse.

"Slow acting... damn them...Come on..." Suddenly she was lifted into the air. Hayden wasn't heavily built, but he carried her easily.

She was too weak to protest as he carried her straight towards the cave wall! She braced for an impact but it never came. Instead, just as they got there, a flash of gold dazzled her and she was blinking as Hayden carried her into a brightly lit area. But everything was fading.

"Doc!" Hayden called. "She is hurt!"

"Get her on the bloody table!" A female voice sounded. After a moment of movement, she was laid down on something. Suddenly a woman's face was in her vision, the mouth drawn as the woman concentrated. She had long blonde hair. "What the hell happened?"

"The Chinese." Hayden said with a sigh. "Five man snatch team. I don't know if they were after her or me."

"With our luck...?" The woman snapped. "Both. What hit her?"

"She got Mishka's vodka, then she was hit with some kind of trank and then shot." Hayden said with a groan. "Yes..." He said as the woman's face turned thunderous. "Yes, I know you don't agree with the whole thing, but it has saved our lives, doc."

"We will argue about that later. Right now we need to figure out how to neutralize the sedative and get the bullet out." The woman said with a scowl as the turned back to the now frightened girl. "Easy, girl... Easy... Your name was Marlena?" The woman asked in a far kinder tone.

"No doctor!" The girl said, trying to rise. "No..."

"Easy!" The woman snapped. "I am on your side, girl. What do you want me to call you?" The girl looked around. She was in a large room with a vaulted ceiling. She was lost in a haze looking at the ceiling. She gasped as a hand pinched her and careful fingers pried an eyelid up. "Damn, Enferon! Hayden, the mask! Now, I have to get the bullet out!"

"No!" The girl said, trying to struggle as the doctor's hands came up with gleaming instruments. "No..." She begged. She couldn't fight. None of her muscles were working as they should.

"Doc."' Hayden said quietly, but with command. "Back off."

"But..." The woman stared at him and then at the girl. Her face paled and she slumped a bit. "I... Yes, Hayden."

"What do you want to be called?" Hayden asked as he came close. "Marlena is a good name. But it has a lot of baggage. Yorgo sent you to us. For a new start. We can and will give you that."

"He..." She stared up at Hayden, her face scared. "He called me Galina. It...didn't feel right, but he was right. Marlena is dead."

"Do you want us to call you Galina?" Hayden asked. She nodded and he smiled at her. "Okay, Galina, my name is Hayden Tenno and this is Doc Lynn." The girl -Galina- looked to the side and her eyes widened a bit as she realized that the woman she had been so afraid of was sitting in a wheeled chair! "We can and will help you, Galina. But you need to sleep through this."

"I am sorry I frightened you... Galina." The doc said with only the trace of a hesitation. "I want to help. I know what it is to be a lab animal." She said, hate sounding in her voice. She turned the chair a bit and Galina's eyes went wide as she saw metal covering the woman's legs. Familiar metal. The limbs looked fused together.

"You..." Galina stared from her to Tenno who hadn't moved. "She is like you? Like me?"

"Yes." Hayden said quietly. "You are safe with us, Galina. Sleep. Let the doc work.. Tomorrow, we will talk."

"I am afraid." Galina said as the doc eased her chair closer. "I am...so afraid..." The admission hurt her.

"I know the feeling." The doctor -Lynn- said sadly. She started to sing softly in a language that Galina did not know, but the tune was obvious. A lullaby. Galina closed her eyes and laid her head back. The familiar feeling of a mask over her nose and mouth had Galina nearly jerking, but the woman's voice was still crooning as a hiss sounded. Galina was humming along with the music as she nodded off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Answers and questions**

For a moment, when Galina woke, she wasn't sure where she was. She didn't hear anything. She was lying on something soft and her chest hurt. She looked down at herself and froze. She was lying on a heavy cot, the kind the army might use. The jacket and shirt that she wore all the time, everywhere, were gone. White gauze bandages covered one side of her chest, the only blemish to the gray metal that extended from her neck all the way down to her hips. A sheet covered her legs. She swallowed heavily as she reached for... She paused as she saw an IV line connected to her hand. She reached to jerk it out.

"Please don't." The voice of the doctor had Galina jerking in place. "You are badly dehydrated. You need the fluids."

"What have you done to me?" Galina demanded as she turned to see the female doctor sitting in her chair, looking at her. Hayden was nowhere in sight. She drew the sheet that covered her legs up over her chest.

"I took the bullet out." Lynn said softly. "That is all. I don't have the equipment to analyze the drug you were given, so I have to let it work its way out naturally. But I _had_ to get the bullet out, it was poisoned. I had to cut your jacket and shirt off, I am sorry. Hayden has gone to get you some more clothes, since you didn't have any luggage." Galina peered under the sheet at herself and realized she was still wearing her pants and boots.

"How long did I sleep?" Galina asked, dazed.

"About three hours." Lynn replied evenly. Galina stared at her and Lynn made a face. "One of the few upsides to being what we are is enhanced healing. By tomorrow morning, you will be completely healed. No holes in your skin. You likely won't even have a scar."

"This is _not_ my skin!" Galina said sharply as she touched the metal on her abdomen. "This is...wrong..."

"I agree." Lynn said with a nod. She touched her own legs and winced. "I am sorry I scared you."

"Apology...accepted. Yargo took me to a doctor." Galina said slowly. "They... they fixed my nose...Made me look different." She touched her face. "They were...gentle, but..."

"They didn't ask before knocking you out, did they?" Lynn asked, her face grave.

"I didn't understand everything. I did not react well when I saw lab coats again." Galina said, shamefaced. "I didn't understand much English. Yargo...calmed me down. Explained. After... He sent me to school, made me practice English with him."

"From what I understand, he was a good man." Lynn said softly. "What happened to him? Hayden will want to know."

"I don't know what happened." Galina said with a wince. "I was at class, University." She looked at Lynn, but the doctor did not comment. "I enjoyed learning..." She said with a hint of wistfulness.

"No reason to stop." Lynn said with a nod. "Modern technology allows for online learning from anywhere. Even Siberia." She said with a smile.

"Online? They had that at the university." Galina said slowly. Then she shook her head. "I have no money for a computer."

"We can work something out." Lynn said gently. "Hayden is not poor and neither am I. My assets are hard to get at these days, mind you..." She said with a sigh. "But I am not poor."

"What happened to you?" Galina asked softly. "Obviously you were infected, like me and Hayden."

"I worked for an agency called the WHO." Lynn said sadly. "World Health Organization." She clarified at Galina's puzzled look. "We dealt with large scale problems like epidemics. Naturally, the garbled reports that came out of Lasria alarmed a goodly number of people."

"Anyone with sense." Galina agreed. Then she paused. "Did you see any names of victims? Reports? Records?" She looked devastated as Lynn shook her head.

"I didn't see any names, Galina." Lynn said, her tone gentle. "There were no records that my team was allowed access to."

"My family lived at 11 Lotorsk Drive." Galina begged. "Did you...?" She trailed off as Lynn shook her head again.

"Galina, I don't speak or read Lasrian and I barely understand enough Russian to ask where a washroom is. One of my team was a translator." Lynn said, slumping a bit. "If I did know what happened to your family, I _would_ tell you. But all I saw were bodies. And Infected." She said with a shudder.

"You were bitten." Galina said slowly. It was not a question.

"The WHO is rarely welcomed." Lynn said with a snarl. "But _that_ response... They were supposed to give us guards. We were there to help!" She said, pain etching her features.

"You were attacked." Galina said slowly. "But... You did not die?"

"And I did not change completely either." Lynn said sadly. "All the rest of my team died or changed. Good people, all of them. We wanted to help." She said with a sigh. "And we got slaughtered. Hayden believes we were set up to be slaughtered, an unfortunate 'accident'." She said bitterly.

"The Lasrian military was always good at covering things up. And then... a lab?" Galina asked slowly.

"Yes." Lynn said, her face turning angry. "I woke in a cage. In a lab. Like you. I don't know where." Galina nodded. "My legs..." She looked at the metal covered limbs and shrugged.

"What happened?" Galina asked slowly. "How did you get away?"

"_Hayden_ happened." Lynn said with a gulp. "You saw what he can do." Galina gulped as well and nodded. Lynn continued. "I don't know what set him on my trail and I really don't care. I woke to screams and gunfire, blood and death. Then he was there, that gray armor of his blending into the smoke. I begged him to kill me, to end my pain. He looked at me and asked me one question... 'Why?' " Galina stared at the doctor and Lynn flushed. "I was out of my mind from the drugs, from the pain. They had been trying to surgically remove the metal. Taking samples. Probably for testing." Galina winced at that and Lynn nodded. "You too huh?" She asked sympathetically. Galina nodded, silent. "He asked me why and I couldn't answer him. I barely understood him. But then he looked at me and said something that I remember clearly. It hit me hard. 'I don't kill the helpless anymore' he said." Galina felt her eyes bulge at that and Lynn nodded. "Hayden is not a nice man. He _is_ a good man. He got me out of there, hid me away while I healed."

"Yargo always said that. Said that Hayden was a good man." Galina said slowly. "Not a nice man, but a good one."

"It's true." Lynn said softly. "What happened to Yargo? I never met him myself but we corresponded a bit. He told us about you, about helping you. Then a couple of weeks ago, the communications stopped. Others tried to fake his communication, but we realized it wasn't him and cut the access before anyone could trace it. He is dead?" Lynn asked, her face sympathetic as Galina felt her face go stiff. She grimaced as Galina nodded. "What happened? You said you were in school?"

"In class." Galina said after a moment, her voice whisper soft. "I was..." She looked at the wall. "I was looking at a boy." She slumped a bit. "I wouldn't have... Yargo always warned me to stay away from boys." Lynn didn't speak, let Galina choose her time. "I was called to the administrator's office. There were strange men there. Russian, I think..." She mused.

"This was in Lasria still?" Lynn asked gently. Galina nodded and Lynn pursed her lips. "Go on."

"They wore suits, but were not comfortable in them. And their eyes..." Galina was not looking at Lynn, she was looking at something only she could see. "Yargo warned me what to do if ever I saw men like that. Men in suits with the eyes of snakes."

"Run." Lynn's word was not a question.

"Yes. I ran. I hid. I escaped. I ran to safehouse..." Galina's English became broken as she started to cry. "He not _there_! I wait... Like he told me... He not _come_. He didn't say what to do if that happened!"

"What did you do?" Lynn asked carefully.

"Night fell." The girl swallowed heavily. "And still Yargo did not come. He say not to, but... I... I went back to the house. It... It was quiet. Too quiet. I crept in and... he was dead. He had been shot." Lynn's face turned sad.

"Oh, Galina..." The doctor laid her hand on Galina's, the one with the IV which was closest. "I am sorry. He told us he found you."

"He..." Galina brushed the tears away hastily. "I was...a mess. He found me on the beach. Where I washed up..." She broke off as Lynn looked confused. "He didn't tell you?"

"What beach? He just told us he found you." Lynn said with a sigh. "Not where or what had happened. He said you had been hurt, your nose broken and other injuries. Can you talk about it?" She asked kindly.

"I...think so. After the lab..." Galina said slowly, choosing her words with care. "I was drugged a lot. Needles, gas... I woke in a car, in a plane, then on a ship."

"A roundabout route to get you out of the country quietly." Lynn said softly. Galina nodded. "Then what?" She pressed gently.

"I don't know what happened." Galina admitted. "It is all blurry, hazy. A man in black who used a needle. But he never spoke. Or... I don't think he did. I was restrained."

"And left to lie in your own filth no doubt." Lynn's voice was angry now and Galina nodded. "Barbarians. So... did you escape? Or what?"

"I don't know." Galina admitted. "Something happened. I heard shouts, fighting. Then a man dressed as a sailor came in. He...touched me..." Galina said with a shiver. "I couldn't move!"

"Oh, Galina..." Lynn said sadly. "It's okay. It's over. I can guess what he did."

"He tore open my shirt, took one look and screamed." Galina said with a grimace. "More came... I heard an argument, but... they came and took me. Cut bonds, but too many to fight. Next thing I know I am in the water. So... I swim." Lynn was shaking her head in disbelief as she held Galina's hand.

"They tossed you overboard because they thought you were _Infected?_" Lynn said with a growl worthy of a mama bear. "Idiots. If you _had_ been, it wouldn't have stopped you from climbing back aboard and slaughtering them all. Infected don't need to breathe."

"I know that." Galina said with a grin. "_You_ know that. Stupid sailors did not know that." Then she sobered. "I woke up on a beach with Yargo standing over me with a drawn gun. He... He was scary with his eye patch and pipe. But he was kind." She started to cry again. "He was _kind_!" She put her hands to her face, trying to stem the flow of tears with her palms. "Later... He said I resembled his daughter... Who died in 1987."

"The first epidemic." Lynn said sadly. "The Soviets dealt with it the same way the Lasrians did. Clamp it down and kill anyone who tries to leave, Infected or no. But you were already gone before this epidemic reached fruition. Before Mezner's madness."

"Mezner..." Galina said faintly. "Yargo used that as an epithet. He called the bureaucrats Mezners when they couldn't hear him. Mezner this, or Mezner that..."

"He had cause." Lynn said sadly. "Mezner was directly responsible for what happened in Lasria the last time. But Hayden stopped him. For what happened to your family and what happened to me." She shook herself. "So... You found Yargo...?"

"He was dead." Galina said sadly. "He had laid a few other plans. He had made me what he called a 'bug-out bag' and it was intact. I ditched the bag on the way here. But it only had a ticket and some money. And the gun..." She paused and Lynn smiled as she laid Galina's pistol close enough for the girl to reach. Galina stared at it. It was a Tekna 9mm, a Lasrian copy of something called a USP SOCOM. "You... I... What?"

"You are not a prisoner, Galina." Lynn said sadly. "If you want to leave, you are welcome to."

"Where would I go?" Galina asked, pushing the gun away with a finger. "Besides..." She said with a smile. "No clip." She tapped the empty bottom of the handgrip with her finger.

"I may like you, girl." Lynn said with a smile. "But I am not stupid."

"Good." Galina said, laying her head back down. "When will Mr. Tenno be back?"

"Mr. Tenno?" An incredulous voice said and both women looked to see Hayden standing there. From the snow on his clothing, he hadn't been there very long. He had a bundle of what looked like clothing in hand. "Galina, Mr. Tenno was my _dad_. Call me Hayden." He said with a grin.

"I...Okay..." Galina said somewhat faintly. "I am sorry I was a pain."

"You were not a pain." Hayden said with a shrug as he laid the bundle down. "You were confused, scared and _poisoned_. A little hysteria is understandable." He smiled as he moved to stand beside Galina's cot. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore." Galina replied a bit uneasily. "But better. Doctor Lynn has been asking me questions and answering some of mine."

"We will talk as well, but..." Hayden shook his head and then seemed to come to a decision. "Galina, I want to ask you to do something for me. I don't know if you can and I don't know if it will hurt or not." Galina stiffened. Lynn did as well.

"Hayden...?" Lynn asked. "What gives?"

"The weather has cleared a bit." Hayden said with a sigh. "There are several search teams combing the woods. I got by them fairly easily, but they seem to be heading for the cave entrance."

"Tracking...me?" Galina swallowed heavily. "The doll?"

"I don't think so." Hayden said as she squatted on his heels beside her. "Irina is not the sort to lie. She is an analyst normally these days. Not normally a field agent anymore although she was a heck of one once."

"You _know_ her?" Galina asked, dazed.

"In my old line of work, you got to know your counterparts in other countries' intelligence services." Hayden said with a shrug. "We crossed paths occasionally, yes. Sometimes neutral, sometimes adversaries. Once we were _allies_ in a particularly nasty clean-up operation. Before Lasria." He shook his head as Galina opened her mouth. "Don't ask." He warned her.

"I won't." Galina said faintly. "But... You say she wouldn't?"

"She was hurt, bad in that clean-up operation." Hayden said with a sigh. "They offered her retirement. But she is a bit stubborn."

"Aunt Irina? Stubborn?" Galina said with a laugh. "No!" Both Hayden and Lynn smiled at her sarcasm. But then Galina paused. "If not her, then who?"

"I don't know." Hayden admitted. "Lynn? How is she?"

"Galina, may I touch you?" Lynn asked politely. The girl held out her hand and Lynn took it with a smile. She took Galina's pulse and then nodded. "Her rhythms are slower. She is recovering. Hayden...?" Lynn asked." You are not going to...?"

"Lynn." Hayden said sharply as Galina felt her face go pale. "Don't scare her. Galina, I want you to close your eyes and see yourself in your mind. Do you think you can do that?"

"A meditation?" Galina asked, closing her eyes. "Yargo taught me...some..." She said, a catch to her voice. She took a deep breath, held it for a time and then slowly exhaled it, visibly calming. "What do I do?"

"One of the things that Lynn and I can both do is see any variances in our bodies." Hayden said, his voice gentle. "Strangeness. Toxins, drugs and other foreign bodies. I think you can too. See your body as it is. See it as if in a mirror, but you can see into it."

"I..." Galina paused, her voice dreamy. "I can see... I see my heart... It is beating , slowing. I am calmer."

"Good." Hayden's voice was whisper soft. "The...difference..." He broke off as Galina gave a small scream and jerked up. "Galina!" He said as he took one of her hands, Lynn took the other.

"The.. The metal... on my skin... It did something!" Galina swallowed heavily. "It...moved... I... I don't understand."

"The metal is part of you, Galina." Hayden said gently. "Just like mine is part of me and Lynn's is part of her. Lynn scowled, but remained silent. "It is a symbiotic relationship. You know what that means?"

"Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between two or more different biological species." Galina recited. "But.. the metal isn't biological. Is it?"

"The line between biological and not biological is blurred when the Technocyte virus is involved, Galina." Lynn said sadly. "Hayden, she is not ready. She is barely healed."

"Lynn, if I can't figure out how they are tracking her, I will have to move the entrance and that knocks me for a loop for a day or so." Hayden said with a sigh. "I can either way, but if they find the new place for the entrance before I recover... I do not want to leave you two vulnerable." Galina stared at him, then slowly laid her head back down and closed her eyes. "Galina?" He asked.

"I..." Galina's voice was dreamy again as she sought the meditation. "I can see... Oh dear..." She said softly.

"Galina?" Lynn asked, worried, when Galina paled.

"There is more than one." Galina said slowly. "They are...in my digestive tract? In my lungs. I..." She jerked. "Ah!"

"Galina!" Lynn cried. "Come back, girl! Let it go!"

"No." Galina said sharply. "I... can..." She let go of Hayden's hand. Hayden and Lynn both stared as she flipped the sheet off herself. Her skin was rippling. "It... Ah, it hurts..." She clung to Lynn's hand and the doctor let her.

"Get them as close to the edge of skin as you can." Hayden said urgently. "I will get them out."

"No..." Galina said, relaxing. "It... it doesn't hurt now." She opened her eyes and looked down at herself. A ripple appeared in the metal on her chest and then another on her stomach. "Ah..." She gulped.

"I got it." Lynn said sharply, her face severe as she pulled a small plastic container from a compartment on her chair. She held the container to Galina's side and a small object was expelled from Galina's metal flesh into the container. Then she did it again. "Get rid of these!" She commanded Hayden who nodded, took the container and darted away. A flash of gold and he was gone. "Galina?" Lynn asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"That was...very strange." Galina said with a wince. "But it was... it was as if it figured out what I wanted and didn't want to hurt me...?" She asked, confused.

"It wouldn't." Lynn said, relaxing. "You are the host. Without you, it is doomed."

"That makes no sense." Galina said with a wince.

"Welcome to our world, Galina." Lynn said dryly. "Check your sanity at the door."


	4. Chapter 4

**Directed Evolution**

Galina lay back on the cot with a sigh. It had hurt, getting up and walking to the small chemical toilet that served this hideaway as sanitary facilities. But it had hurt less this time. Lynn looked at her and Galina smiled. The doc had moved to another part of the large room where a table with a bunch of stuff on it was set up. Some of it was recognizable, like the laptop computer. The rest was alien to Galina's understanding.

"It hurts less." The girl said as she pulled her shirt up. The clothes that Hayden had acquired for her fit reasonably well. "That is good?"

"That is good." Lynn said, returning the smile. "You are healing. Our bodies have changed, but at the core, they remain as they were."

"I do not mean to be rude..." Galina said slowly. "But... I do have a question." Lynn arced an eyebrow at her and Galina flushed. "Ah... It is nothing..." She said, shamefaced.

"You wonder why you haven't seen _me_ use the facilities." Lynn said without a trace of embarrassment. Galina felt her face heat further and Lynn shook her head. "Galina, I am not... well..." She paused and corrected herself. "It does bother me. But I am trying to figure out what happened to me and why. But this I do know. My body doesn't deal with sustenance the way it did." Galina looked puzzled and Lynn smiled gently. "It is all right, Galina. I don't bite."

"Why do I get the feeling that is...not entirely true?" Galina said with a matching smile.

"Ah... Caught." Lynn said with a wince."Well, yes. I was a... well... My colleagues called me 'The Ice Queen'." Galina nodded with a sigh and Lynn looked at her, appraising. "You too, huh?"

"Not many friends, even before..." Galina looked down at her now clad front and shuddered. Lynn nodded sympathetically and Galina shrugged. "I had books."

"What books?" Lynn asked, turning away from whatever she was working on and scrutinizing Galina who flushed. "Come on." She said with a smile. "I liked Lord of the Rings, the Belgariad and now I _love_ Harry Potter."

"Lord of the Rings, I know." Galina said with a nod. "And Harry Potter of course. But... The Belgariad?" She asked curiously.

"Fantasy like the others by a man named David Eddings. A six book series. A young man's coming of age in a world of magic and mayhem. Not the most intellectually stimulating of books, but fun to read." Lynn said with a sigh. "Magic and swords and adventure." She snorted. "Funny... Now I am _living_ a fantasy adventure story and I don't like it at _all_." She said with a grimace.

"Adventure is fun to read about." Galina agreed. "But to do? It hurts." She said with a sigh. Lynn looked worried and rolled her chair closer to the bed. Galina shook her head. "I am all right...It just stings now."

"I worry." Lynn said softly. "May I?" She waved at Galina who sighed and nodded, laying her head back. Lynn's hands were professional as she checked the bandage that was still on Galina's chest. The doc sat back after a minute, her face clearing. "I will take the bandages off in an hour or so. You really don't need them now."

"I still don't see how this...metal infection can be helping me." Galina complained, rolling onto her not injured side to look at Lynn. "It is _evil_!" Lynn sighed and shook her head. "What?" Galina asked.

"Galina, a virus is not good or evil. It is what it is." Lynn said softly, her hand coming down to take Galina's. "A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. No more, no less."

"But..." Galina swallowed. "It is evil."

"The effects _seem_ that way." Lynn agreed. "Everything that I saw... It sure seems that way." She agreed. "But in medicine, we taught to look for causes. Not to philosophize on things we don't have all the understanding for. I don't know where the Technocyte virus came from. I don't know why it affected organic beings the way it did. And I have no _clue_ why you, me and Hayden were not affected. Or... we _were_..." She corrected herself when Galina made a sound of protest. "But... not the same."

"I don't think I can see it that way, Lynn." Galina said quietly.

"You don't have to. I am not going to try and make you do anything, Galina." Lynn said with a nod. "But if you have questions, ask. I may not have the answers. I will try to find them if I don't. But you were wondering why I don't use the facilities?" Galina took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes." Galina replied.

"I have a theory that my body is storing the chemical energy that it takes in." Lynn frowned slightly. "But how, or for what? I have no means of checking except what Hayden showed you." Galina winced and Lynn squeezed her hand sympathetically. "You are quick. It took me two weeks to figure out how to do that even with Hayden's coaching."

"Desperation is a good teacher." The girl on the cot said with a self deprecating grin. "What did you see?" Galina asked.

"I have...a new organ. No idea what it is. " Lynn said with a wince. Galina stared at her and swallowed, but Lynn was quick to reassure her. "Whatever I have, it is not contagious. I just have an extra bit in my body now. And..." She paused and grimaced. "It glows."

"Glows?" Galina asked slowly.

"Every time I eat, it glows. At least it is all internal so I don't light up like a Christmas tree." Lynn said with a shiver. "No idea why or what it does, but I don't excrete anymore. Good thing too. A toilet with these..." She slapped her legs with her free hand. "Would be a literal pain in the butt."

"Are these changes genetic?" Galina asked after thinking for a moment. Lynn looked at her and Galina blushed. "I read a lot."

"I don't know." Lynn admitted. "I don't have the equipment to test it or the training to understand genetics in anything but diseases." She looked sheepish.

"So...are we mutants?" Galina asked, her thoughts racing. Lynn looked at her and laughed.

"What like the X-Men?" Lynn asked between snorts of laughter. "Which one would you want to be? I liked the Psylocke character myself."

"_You_ read comic books?" Galina demanded, aware that she was grinning, but not bothering to stop. She froze as Lynn did.

"No." Lynn said slowly. "My son does. Did." Galina's eyes went very wide at that and Lynn shook her head. "They... They were told I died. Hayden checked." Lynn said in a halting voice. "I trust him."

"No..." Galina felt her eyes start to burn. "No... You are not dead."

"To them I am." Lynn said sadly. "And even if I _could_ go back?" The doctor sounded bitter now. "How fast can I run if the men who had me come for me again? If they threaten my family?"

"This...isn't right." Galina said softly, taking Lynn's hand, pulling it close and cradling it.

"Right or wrong don't matter." Lynn said sadly. "It is what it is. Isn't that a Russian saying?"

"I think most cultures have a saying like that." Galina said with a scowl. Then she deliberately changed the subject. "I liked to read science fiction. Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, Clarke, Sagan."

"The good stuff." Lynn said, appreciate of the change in subject. Then she paused. "Actually...Let go for a sec..." Galina released her hand and Lynn spun her chair deftly and rolled it back to the table, where she rummaged a bit. Then she pulled out something small and flat with a cry of triumph. "Here it is!"

"What is it?" Galina asked curiously as Lynn turned to come back her way.

"My Kindle." Lynn said with a smile. "I don't know why the scum who had me kept my belongings close at hand, but Hayden found some of my clothes and other stuff. Including this." She showed the small device to Galina who stared at it curiously. It was a small flat thing with a white display on it. "It was state of the art in 2007..." Lynn said with a sigh.

"A Kindle?" Galina said slowly. "Some of the other students had those."

"Newer versions no doubt." Lynn said with a shrug as she slid a tiny switch, a green light appeared and the screen lit up. "Ha! I knew I got the adaptor right!"

"Adaptor?" Galina asked, looking around. "There are no power outlets here."

"Siberian power grids are generally not to be trusted anyway." Lynn said with a wince. "The best 1920s technology you can buy." Galina chuckled a bit at that but nodded. "We toyed with the idea of getting a generator, but the fumes or noise would be traceable. Might lead searchers to us. Hayden 'found' a fuel cell somewhere and we rigged it to provide power."

"A fuel cell? Cool. Wait..." Galina said and then paused, worried. "What does it use for fuel?"

"Alcohol." Lynn said with a wince. "One thing that Siberia has a lot of is bootleg vodka."

"Okay, I can see that." Galina replied, her face clearing. "And the air as source of oxygen... How _does_ the air circulate?" She asked slowly. "It..." She paused again, sniffing. "It doesn't taste stale. Or like outside."

"No idea." Lynn said with a shrug. "One _more_ thing we are trying to figure out."

"Where are we?" Galina asked, looking around, She had seen the white walls and high vaulted ceiling since she had woken, but now she looked closer. None of the walls had any marks on them. No tool marks, no sign of painting. Nothing.

"Underground, I think. Hayden made this place." Lynn said with a sigh. "I needed a place to hide and Hayden brought me here. He said he made it, but I have no idea how. He also says he 'moves' the entrance. And every time he does whatever he does, it knocks him unconscious."

"This place is not natural." Galina said slowly. "So it _must_ have been made." She reasoned. Lynn looked at her and she swallowed. "Hayden has not lied to me that I know of... So..."

"Or _me_ that I know of." Lynn replied with a nod. "Go on."

"Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Galina said slowly, choosing her words with care. "If Hayden did _make_ this..."

"Hayden is not a magician, Galina." Lynn said, her face remote.

"I know. But..." Galina paused. "Did you ever read the tales of King Arthur?" Lynn stared at her and Galina blushed again. "I... I liked them. Knights and chivalry and all."

"I was always more interested in the history." Lynn said slowly. "But I did read the stories a few times. Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot."

"Lancelot was added by the French to the original Anglo-Saxon tales of Arturious Castus Pollus and..." Galina paused as Lynn's jaw dropped. "What?" She asked.

"You _did_ like those stories." Lynn said, grinning. "What drew you to them?"

"The idea of a Code to uphold." Galina said with a sigh. "A noble calling. A duty to protect and serve. When I was a child, I wanted to be a policewoman. Women were not knights."

"Jean D'arc." Lynn said with a wince. "But not the best role model to follow I don't think." Galina gulped and nodded.

"No, I don't want to be burnt at the stake today." Galina agreed fervently. Then she grinned. "But I always loved the tales of knight sand heroes. I always played swords with my brothers and..." She broke off and her jaw dropped.

"Galina?" Lynn asked.

"It can't be that simple..." Galina mused softly. "Can it?" She touched her torso with a finger and shook her head. "No...It can't be."

"Galina, are you okay?" Lynn asked as Galina paled.

"I... I don't know." Galina felt faint. "I... this is going to sound strange."

"Stranger than any of the rest of this madness?" Lynn asked sourly. She stiffened as Galina nodded. "What?"

"Did you like to swim?" Galina asked as she stared at Lynn intently, no at Lynn's _neck_! Lynn looked at her and shook her head, baffled.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lynn demanded, her hand going to her neck, but not finding anything wrong. "What? Not a lot of swimming pools in Siberia, Galina."

"Lynn..." Galina shook her head, but her conviction grew. "More than anything _else_ as a child, I wanted to be a _knight_. Battling evil. Riding a horse, with a shining sword, saving dashing hunks in distress." Lynn chortled at that. The doc stopped as Galina met her eyes with scared ones. "Wearing _armor_." The younger woman flicked a finger at her chest and it made a ringing sound. Lynn stared at her. "Did you like to swim?" She repeated.

"I loved to swim." Lynn said with a dazed look. "From before I could walk, I was swimming. I was always at a pool, the beach, diving..." She shook her head. "No... That isn't possible, Galina."

"Lynn." Galina said softly. "Turn your feet out from one another."

"Galina." Lynn said with a snap. "They won't..." She froze as something happened. She and Galina both stared at her feet. Or... where her feet had been. At the large, ribbed metal covered structure that had taken their place. Lynn went white. "I... No... That can't... I am not a..." She broke off, gagging.

"No, you are not a mermaid." Galina said with a nod. "Those are legend. This is fact. Try putting your feet back together." Lynn gulped and then her...tail vanished and metal covered two human feet were suddenly visible. "Wow." Galina said, awed.

"Holy shit." Lynn said as she fainted. Galina sat up quickly to catch her and held the doctor as she slumped. She held the doctor until the woman roused a bit. "I..." She started crying.

"Easy, Lynn." Galina said gently. "We have both just had a hell of a shock. You more than me."

"I.. I felt it..." Lynn said, clinging to Galina. "I could never feel my feet before, but I felt that... That..." She gulped.

"Tail." Galina said with a sigh. "I wonder... Will I grow a sword out of an arm? A shield? Will it hurt if I hit people with it?" She shook her head. "We need to figure this out."

"Yes." Lynn said, hugging Galina. "Thank you. I... Wait..." She stared down at her legs and then slowly released Galina before sitting up and then, to Galina's amazement she stood up! "I... My legs..." She stammered. "I can feel them again! I... I felt something 'click' and I can feel..." Her face was radiant as she took a step and then another! "I can walk! Oh my god..." She was crying as she jumped a bit.

"They were there." Galina said with a nod. "But not reading the signals your brain sent. Or the reverse."

"Probably the reverse. Probably my brain didn't understand the signals that the legs were sending." Lynn said as she sat again in what had been her prison. She shook her head. "What made you think of that?"

"Be a fish." Galina said with a smirk. Lynn stared at her and Galina smiled. "Disney movie, 'The Sword in the Stone'. Merlin shapechanged the young Arthur into a fish to teach him about physics. Action and reaction."

"Teaching...a medieval king... about physics..." Lynn said, bemused. "Okay..." She said with a wince. "I _guess_ I can see that in an Disney movie."

"We do need to figure this out." Galina said with a sigh. "This is very strange, but it is not magic."

"For us, its a symbiotic relationship." Lynn said with a nod. "Hayden and I figured that much out. The human is the host and the...metal... is the symbiote. It didn't seem to do anything for me, but it melded with Hayden's armor. I thought I was useless, a cripple. I was wrong. I can do something." She rubbed her leg gently. "And I can feel this too. Oh Galina, you have no idea..."

"No." Galina greed. "No, I don't. But I am happy for you."

"Thank you." Lynn said with a smile. "Hayden will be shocked."

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" Galina said with a frown. "It was what? An hour ago?"

"Hayden can take care of himself." Lynn said with a shrug. "Worrying about him won't help. And no, you are not leaving that cot until you have eaten something!"

"Pushy doc." Galina said with a glower that was half hearted.

Both of them froze as the wall suddenly glowed gold and Hayden came through, But he was gasping for breath. And he was bleeding!

"Hayden!" Both females cried as one, Galina running to his side as Lynn turned to the medical gear on the table.

"I... I have to... shift the entrance..." Hayden said, gasping as he slumped against the wall. "Hunters getting too close. Ran into a trap."

"Enferon?"Lynn asked as she knelt beside him. He stared at her and she snarled at him. "Later."

"Not Enferon. I know what that feels like." Hayden said, slumping a bit. "Just several hits. Galina...I am not strong enough... I need your help."

"What can I do?" Galina asked, holding his hands as Lynn started working on his wounds. "What do you need?"

"Some of your body's power." Hayden said as he grasped her hands with one of his. His other hand touched the wall. "Please... We have to hurry. They had grenades..."

"Take what you need, my friend." Galina said calmly as she braced herself.

Hayden smiled and then... The universe opened to Galina. It was as if she was standing in empty space, moving bodies all around her. A star burned brightly close at hand, and planets circled it. She started, she _knew_ this solar system, it was Earth's! Then she was flying. She saw the Earth below her, a spot glowing on the western part of the continent she knew was Asia. Then a sense of motion and another spot glowing on the eastern part of the continent she knew was North America. Something jerked her and she gave a small cry as she found herself kneeling in the odd room again. She felt drained, but whole.

"Where, Hayden?" Lynn demanded. "Where are we?"

"The last place anyone would expect." Hayden said, slumping. "A cave in the mountains of Virginia on the east coast of the United States."

"Bozhe moi" Galina said with a gulp as Hayden passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Shopping**

"Quit worrying." Galina was losing patience. "I saw tourists, I can act the part. You even have new ID for me." She checked the odd 'driver's license' thing again and sighed as she put it by her passport. Both fake documents looked okay to her not so expert eye.

"I don't like this." Lynn said as she checked Hayden again. The man was asleep, his face relaxed from its normal stern vigilance. He looked...vulnerable in the gentle light of the hideaway. "_I_ should go."

"_You_ need to tend Hayden. He will be out for a while." Galina said with a sigh. "At least we managed to connect to the satellite internet again. According to the Google map, there is a town called Blacksburg less than five kilometers from here. They will have stores. I have the money. I can do it."

"I...still don't like it. We do need supplies." Lynn said, grimacing. "And I _do_ need to tend Hayden. But... It can wait until he wakes."

"We have the American money that Hayden had. We need alcohol for the fuel cell. The tank is at 20%." Galina said reasonably. "We need water and some food other than Russian surplus military rations would be good." She said with a grimace. "They don't go bad, _but_..." She trailed off, staring the boxes of rations that had been set against one wall. She had examined them. Most were WWII era. That they were still edible -sort of- said much.

"Can't argue with that." Lynn said with a shake of her head. "And I thought _MREs_ were bad."

"I will buy only as much as I can easily carry." Galina said with a nod. "I... Yargo taught me how to evade pursuers in case I am followed. There is a university in this town however. I can play a student, I _was_ one."

"I know. We..." Lynn said, rising from Hayden's side and moving to stand near Galina. "I..."

"You fret." Galina said quietly. "I understand, but this is not Lasria or Siberia."

"Galina, it can be just as dangerous." Lynn said, her face grave. "We cannot afford attention. We are immobile until Hayden wakes and vulnerable. And carrying a gun... is a bad idea." She nodded to Galina's pocket, which bulged. Galina stared at her.

"I thought everyone in America carried a gun." Galina said, confused. "Or..." She paused. "That was what we were told by the media anyway. Yargo never said that. So..." She grimaced and pulled her pistol from her pocket, setting it on folding chair. She removed a pair of extra clips and a box of ammunition, setting it down as well. "I am thinking like a fugitive, not a student. I have to think like a student..." She said slowly. "I am... a student." She said slowly and carefully.

"What is your name?" Lynn asked softly.

"My name is Galina Grimkov." Galina spoke the name they had chosen at random for her without looking at her ID. "I am a new exchange student at Virginia Tech. I am from Russia, from Moscow. I am studying applied engineering and looking forward to it." She looked at Lynn who nodded, albeit against her will.

"Try to make your English less...refined. Most exchange students I met had trouble with it. I don't like this, Galina." Lynn said sadly, only to be caught off guard when Galina leaned forward and hugged her. "Hey..." She said, returning the embrace.

"I will be fine." Galina said with a smile. "I will be back in a few hours. Hopefully with something edible."

"I will hold you to that." Lynn said, hugging Galina again before letting go and moving back to Hayden's side.

Galina smiled and moved to where Hayden had entered the lair. As she did, a pulse of energy surrounded her and she was suddenly in a damp cave. It wasn't deep, she could see light coming from ahead. She had checked the weather reports available for the area and no foul weather was expected. It was winter in the Northern Hemisphere, even on the other side of the planet so it was somewhat cold, if nowhere _near_ as cold as Siberia. There was a bit of snow left on the ground here and there, but not enough to worry about leaving tracks. There were muddy areas that Galina carefully skirted for the same reason. She quickly found a road, and walking a ways, found a sign that pointed her in the right direction. It was not a difficult walk even in the forest beside the road. The traffic was light, since she had chosen to do this in the middle of the day. People who were working would be at work. According to the Virginia Tech website that she had perused, classes did not start for another week, but students would have been arriving for some time if it was anything like the school she remembered fondly.

She had a bad moment just after entering the city limits. She saw a man in uniform standing by a car with red and blue lights flashing. A police officer! To cover her fear, she pulled Lynn's Kindle from her pocket and pretended to read it as she strode by the man who was talking to a young man who stood beside a red car that was pulled to the side of the road in front of the parked police car. Only after she was out of sight of the police officer did she relax and place the Kindle back in her pocket. She drew the map she had printed off and perused it. Something called a 'grocery store' was nearby and Lynn had said Galina could find everything they needed there. A place called 'Food Lion'.

She found it easily. The streets were well laid out, with easy to read street signs. Lynn had warned her to cross at the intersections. Not that Galina would jaywalk, she had known one student in Lasria who had been caught by the police there doing so and had spent three _weeks_ in jail as a result. The parking lot was half full and she smiled as she started for the obvious entrance. But then she froze. A group of people, male and female in the uniforms of soldiers, had exited the store. Galina did not dare move from where she was as the group passed her, only a couple of them glancing at her as they continued on their way. None were armed! Galina shook her head slowly. Military, off a base. In uniform. Unarmed. What the hell? In Russia, one only saw soldiers in uniform off base when they were on duty and they were _always_ armed. She shook her head, Americans were very strange.

It got worse as soon as she stepped into the building. Galina stopped and stared, dumbfounded. The building was huge and it seemed to be nothing but rows of merchandise. But there was no security! She noted a camera over the door and carefully kept her face out direct view as she started into the store but that was _all_. No guards. No security gates. Nothing! It was _nothing_ like any store she had been into in her life. She paused again as she stepped aside to get out of the way of an elderly woman with a cane. She could smell fresh fruit and vegetables! In the middle of winter! She followed her nose to a section marked 'Produce' and just stared in awe at the array of food laid out before her. All kinds of fruits and vegetable were set out on display. Some she knew and many she didn't. Galina shook her head and smiled as she stepped back to where she had seen wheeled baskets.

"Fresh produce in winter." Galina said to herself as she picked up a bundle of carrots, checking them for rot automatically. The greens and roots were cleaner than any carrots Galina had ever seen in her life outside of a stewpot. "Wow."

She was shaking her head as she forced herself to leave the 'Produce' area behind. She did pick up a bag of something called Honeycrisp apples as she went. She hadn't had fresh apples in years! She had been raised with a healthy disdain for America and Americans, and her few encounters with tourists as a child had reinforced that. But if _this_ was the largesse these people took for granted...well... Maybe their arrogance wasn't so unfounded. Such bounty was to be appreciated and she hoped Lynn would like the fruit. Galina would, that was for sure.

The rest of the store was wonder piled on wonder. An entire row of laundry detergent. Another of nothing but sodas. She had drunk soda a few times at school, but the fizzing had always bothered her. She picked up two boxes of something called 'Power bars'. The ingredients didn't seem to be anything that Galina thought would create energy, but what did she know? She picked up a large bottle of rubbing alcohol, its ingredients seemed to fit the bill for what the fuel cell would need. She hoped so anyway. She hadn't seen any hard liquor anywhere, another difference from a Russian store.

She walked into another section and nodded to herself. They did have... What was _this_? She stared at a bottle of something that called itself 'light beer'. She shook her head. She had tried a beer once and detested it. She didn't want anything to do with something these crazy American's might consider 'light'. They did have vodka. Several brands of vodka and she didn't know any of them. She shook her head.

"Problem, Miss?" A young man in what looked like an apron asked calmly. His name badge read 'Steve'

"Ah, yes..." Galina said, thinking fast and working to make her English less clear and emphasize her accent. "I need alcohol for cleaning. Not drinking." The man looked at her and she shrugged. "I was taught that few problems can withstand alcohol and...how you say? Elbow grease?" She asked with a smile.

"Exchange student?" Steve asked kindly. She nodded and he shook his head. "You can't take alcohol onto school grounds. Lysol would do the job."

"Is private home set up for housing." Galina said with a shrug. "But former tenant was _slob_. Left _big_ stinky mess." She grimaced. "Landlord ask me to clean. I have _no_ idea when I agree..." She said with a frown. "I assume store sell vodka. You do."

"You use _vodka_ for _cleaning?_" Steve asked, incredulous.

"In Russia, vodka far cheaper than Lysol and work." Galina said with a sigh. "Perhaps Lysol better? But no use Lysol before. Know vodka and... If no use all? She shrugged. "Maybe drink."

"We will need ID." The man said, his tone dry.

"So I hear." Galina said with a smile as she pulled out her passport and driver's license. "License is new. Just receive yesterday." The store employee looked at both.

"Brand new." The man said, his tone dubious but not angry or doubtful. "Passport?"

"That not so new." Galina agreed. Lynn and Hayden had thought ahead. They had taken her old identification papers and tweaked them somehow a bit into what looked for all the world like a real honest to god Russian passport. And it gave her real age of 24. "Twenty one years is legal age, no? I twenty four."

"It is." The man agreed. "The manager will want to see them. We try not to sell to students. Especially underage students. We can get in all kinds of trouble."

"Ah." Galina shook her head. "Yes, silly teenagers and vodka. Not good combination."

"No, not good." The man agreed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Truthfully?" Galina said with a shrug. "No idea. I not know any of these brands. What is strongest?"

"This is probably the highest alcohol content we have currently." The man pointed to a case of twelve bottles. "Do you need that much?" He paused as Galina nodded. "You _do_?" He asked, amazed.

"Is bathtub." Galina said sourly. The man grimaced and Galina shared it. "I no want to _know_ what he did in bathtub. But I have to clean. And as I say, if I no use all? I can drink. No can drink Lysol. I know how to drink vodka. And _when_." She promised.

"That puts you ahead of about half the students I have ever met." Steve said with a smile. "Good luck Ma'am."

Galina put the case in the basket and sighed. For a spur of the moment story, it seemed to have worked fairly well. Yargo had always told her to keep to simple stories if she was forced to lie. It made remembering them much, much easier. Her bags were going to be very heavy but they would be worth it. She shook herself and headed for the checkout counter. To her amazement, the clerk -after asking for her ID- simply accepted it as genuine without any in depth scrutiny. The clerk was also well skilled in packing bag. Two large brown paper bags, doubled to add strength, held everything that Galina had purchased, including the vodka. She looked at the bill and paid it in silence. But inside, she was dumbfounded yet again. All this stuff was incredibly cheap by her standards. She lifted the bags easily and started for the door, amazed at how easy this had all been.

_I...may have to revise my estimation of Americans..._ Galina thought with a sigh. _Yargo always warned me that no one was as the media portrayed them. But without actually seeing it, I never would have believed it. Fresh fruits and vegetables in winter available to anyone with money. That is..._

Her thoughts broke off at the sound of a scream. She looked up to see an automobile with a driver who had a hand to his ear bearing down on...

She dropped the bags and ran into the road, grabbing the young boy who had been running across the road without looking and curling around him protectively as the car plowed into her. She had a moment to see green light and then she was flying, still curled around the boy. She landed in a roll, trying to keep the young man from harm as he shrieked in fear and pain. It hurt, but she did what she had to. Finally, she came to a stop and grunted as the boy in her hands struggled. He couldn't have been over five years old.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "You should look before crossing a street, young man."

"I..." He stared at her and started to cry. "I..."

"Samuel!" A shrill voice cried as Galina sat up, easing the boy to his feet. "Samuel, you _bad_ boy..." A woman came running up, her face study of shock, and horror. "I have _told_ you not to run in the parking lot!" She yelled, her fear coming through clear and strong.

"He is yours?" Galina said, holding the boy out to what had to be his mother. The boy jumped out of her hands and ran, sobbing to his mother. "I don't feel anything broken. Just scared, I think. I think he is okay."

"Are _you_?" The woman asked, fear coloring her tone now. Fear for Galina.

"I have been hit harder." Galina said with a wince. "But I will _feel_ it tomorrow." She said with a sigh.

"What did you do to my car, you crazy woman?" An irate male voice sounded. Galina looked to see the car that had struck her had a huge dent in the hood and one front panel. What had to be the driver was standing beside it, his face furious. "I am going to _sue_!"

"Sue? Considering that you nearly ran over my _son_ since you were too busy yapping on your _phone_ to look where you were _going?_" The woman who was holding the bawling boy rounded on the driver, her face as furious as his. "I hope she _destroyed_ it. You were on your cell phone, I got it on _my_ phone!" She brandished the small device and the driver suddenly looked a lot less angry and more frightened. "I ought to sue _you!_"

Galina heard sirens in the distance, tried to rise and couldn't. Nothing was broken, she _knew_ that feeling. But she was very weak. What had just happened? The sirens came closer and she shook her head.

"This... is not good..."


	6. Chapter 6

**One little mistake**

Galina sat as instructed and tried not to move as the man and woman in uniform worked. They were unarmed and had introduced themselves as 'paramedics'. She vaguely recalled that as some kind of American civilian medical team. Or something? She wasn't sure. But the ingrained response to people in uniform from her upbringing as well as her utterly unforeseen weakness had her complying. They were professional and gentle even if that had been a bit upset that she had moved from where she had fallen to the sidewalk where she now sat.

"You may have a concussion, Ma'am." The male, he had said his name was Carlos, said as he stepped back from his quick examination of her body to check for broken bones. Galina shook her head.

"No headache." She said slowly. "No dizziness. How are my eyes?" She asked the female who was shining a light in them.

"Clear and responsive." The female whose name badge read 'Susan' replied calmly. "Are you trained?"

"A little." Galina admitted. "I have been hurt a few times. Stupidity mostly. I have had a concussion before though."

"Grow up in a rough neighborhood?" Carlos asked.

"Part of Moscow that is the kind the police do not enter without military backup. Glad to leave and go to school." Galina replied. "Can I move now? My nose itches."

"Sure." Susan replied, putting her light away. Galina smiled as she scratched her nose. "Aside from the black eye, I don't find any other injuries. Do you know what happened?" Galina kept her hand from her throbbing eye as she carefully scratched.

"I saw boy in road. Car was coming, driver not looking. I ran and grabbed boy to get him out of the way of the car." Galina said slowly, trying to think fast. How was she going to get out of this? "I was trained to roll with impacts. I think...I think his foot or hand hit me. I am not sure. How _is_ the boy?" She asked.

"Aside from wetting his pants, he is fine. From the look of it, his mom is going to tan his rear end as soon as she gets him home." Carlos replied with a smile. "Good job."

"Parents warned that America is dangerous." Galina complained. "But I assumed outlaws with guns. Not _cars_."

"Is that why you are wearing body armor, Ma'am?" Another voice asked from nearby and Galina looked to see one of the police officers who had arrived with the ambulance looking at her, his face remote. "When we see people wearing body armor, we assume they intend to get shot at."

"I beg your pardon, officer." Galina said with a trace of heat as she glanced at his obvious armored vest. "Do _you_ intend to get shot at?" She shook her head. "I have been shot. I would rather not ever have it happen again."

"When?" The cop asked carefully.

"In Russia." Galina replied hedging the facts a bit. "Thug with assault rifle shoot at police. Bad idea. They shoot back. With bigger guns. I caught in crossfire." Both of the paramedics and the cop winced as one. "Not sure _which_ shoot me. Is all blur. I hit by bullet, fall and hit my head. So yes, I know concussion as well. When mother find out I go to America, she _demand_ me wear vest. I hate it. Is hot. But... she my mother. She is to be obeyed." Galina lied glibly.

"You know... my mom is the same way." Carlos said with a shrug. "She actually demanded I start carrying a gun when I got this job." Galina looked at him and Carlos shook his head. "No, not going to happen. I bought it, showed her the receipt and it stays in a locked case at home." The cop and his partner both nodded at that. "I have enough problems _without_ carrying a gun."

"We prefer you announce if you have such things."The police officer said slowly. "We don't like surprises."

"I understand." Galina said and then, she decided on a direct approach. "In Russia, I would offer bribe, but this is not Russia. What do I do?" Both paramedic stared at her and she grimaced. "I not _offer_. I say 'In _Russia_ I would offer'. This _not_ Russia. I not know what to do."

"I find your honesty...refreshing." The police officer said with a smile. He sighed. "Technically I am supposed to report any and all unregistered body armor, get statements and bring the persons responsible down to the station for a complete background check." Galina could not have hidden the stab of fear that went through her if she had tried. "Whoa..." He held up empty hands. "_I_ said technically."

"People go to police station in Russia or Lasria where I was born..." Galina gulped. "They often not come _back._ Or come back...broken."

"This is _not_ Russia or Lasria, Ma'am. This is Blacksburg Virginia in the United States." The police officer said quietly. "So... Medics?"

"We can't find any obvious injuries besides the black eye." Carlos said with a nod. "She has declined a trip to the hospital as is her right."

"No health insurance finalized yet." Galina said with a wince. "I not hurt badly. Been hurt worse."

"You could be bleeding internally." Susan said, her voice cautious."You hit the hood of that car _hard_."

All four of them turned to where the driver of the car stood talking to the other police officer. He looked...scared. Galina had to admit that the dent in the hood of the car was impressive. The police and ambulance had blocked off part of the parking lot, but Galina could see a small crowd gathered and what had to be a news vehicle of some kind. So much for keeping a low profile.

"I not think." Galina said softly. "I just react. I see many dead... I see children die in past. No wish to see child die when I can save." The medics looked at the cop who shook his head. "Am I under arrest?" She asked when the medics started cleaning up their gear.

"For _what?_" The police officer asked with a snort. "For saving a little boy's _life_? For getting hit by a _car_?"

"For wearing body armor." Galina said, cautious. Were they letting her go?

"Well, you didn't break any laws." The cop said with a shake of his head. "It is not _illegal_ to wear body armor. It just makes us as police very nervous to see civilians wearing such things. Like I say, most people who wear armor expect to get shot at. And no, I prefer _not_ to get shot at."

"I can understand that." Galina said with a nod. "It hurts like hell." She and the cop shared a nod of understanding. She smiled at the medics. "Thank you for your help."

"Thank you for not making us have to clean up a dead kid." The female medic said seriously. "I am glad you are not hurt badly, but you will be bruised. If you start coughing up blood or feel in any way bad, get help." She cautioned Galina who nodded.

"I understand." Galina smiled. "I am not stupid. I just...not hurt." She said, somewhat bemused. "Expected to be hurt, but am not."

"You are very, very lucky." The police officer said with a frown. "But I add my thanks as well. Pedestrian struck by automobile is almost always messy. And with a kid involved..." He shuddered as Galina slowly rose to her feet.

"What will happen to driver?" Galina asked as she took a few cautious steps. She wasn't even dizzy now. She paused as both medics groaned and the cop looked sour. "What?"

"Since no one was actually hurt, he is likely to be issued a stern warning." The cop said with a grimace. "Maybe a citation for using his phone while driving. That _is_ against the law. But with no injuries..."

"They really need to toughen that law." Carlos said with a sigh. "Texting and using a cell phone while driving are the two most prevalent causes of accidents now after drinking."

"Preaching to the choir, medic Carlos." The cop groaned. "We do what we can."

"And then we have to clean up the messes when people get stupid." Susan said with a sigh as she loaded the medical gear that they had pulled out when they had arrived. But then she paused and smiled. "I think someone wants to talk to you, Galina." She and Carlos nodded and walked back towards their ambulance, carrying their gear.

"Hmmm?" Galina turned and the little boy she had saved was standing there, his eyes red from tears, but his face solemn. "Yes?" She asked.

"Thank you." The boy said softly. "I didn't mean to cause a problem." He said, his lip starting to quiver. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's all right." Galina said with a nod as the medics and cop departed. She smiled and he smiled back hesitantly. "Are you going to run in parking lots again?" She asked, her face turning severe.

"No." The boy said softly, his face falling. "Or... I will try not to."

"I may not be here next time." Galina said slowly. She knelt down and opened her arms. The boy flew into them, his brave facade cracking. "It's all right. _This_ time no one was hurt or killed." She laid her arms around the boy and smiled as he hugged her tight. "You scared your mother, Samuel." She said, nodding to the woman who stood nearby her face stern, but her eyes twinkling. "She will punish you for that."

"I know." The boy buried his face in Galina's shoulder and cried. "I was just...so.." He trailed off.

"You were in a hurry." Galina said with a smile, letting him go. But then she held him out at arms length, meeting his eyes. "Samuel, hurry is not worth your life. You do not have to run to get where you want to go fast." He stared at her, confused and she smiled. "Never mind." She said quickly and turned to the mother. "He is good boy."

"Most of the time." The woman said with a smile. "I am Anne. Thank you."

"Good to meet you, Anne. I think Samuel will _look_ before crossing street from now on, yes?" Galina said to Samuel who nodded silently. "Go on. Take your punishment. You are brave and strong and will make a fine man someday." The boy looked at her confused as she let him go and rose again. "Now I need to get home and clean up a mess." Samuel walked to his mother and she took his hand.

"All I can say is 'thank you'." Anne said sadly. "It... It doesn't seem enough."

"My brother, Josef, would have been Samuel's age." Galina said, emotion rising. She quashed it. "I was not there for him. I am glad I was here for Samuel."

"What happened?" Anne asked softly.

"An epidemic. Nothing I could do." Galina said as she moved to where her paper bags lay. Then she paused. She had dropped them and had heard something go 'crunch' but when she examined them, the bottles and things were intact. "What the...?"

"I spoke to the manager." Anne said softly. "He replaced the broken bottles. Poor recompense for my son's life." She stepped close, her face softening. "You are a good woman, Galina Grimkov. Thank you." She nodded to Galina, then moved to enter the store, Samuel striding to keep up with her.

_If only you knew..._ Galina said to herself as she picked up the bags and started off. She was careful to keep her path towards the school district while she was still in sight if the store and all the authority figures and media. Once she was out of sight, she changed her path and picked up her pace. She would be later than Lynn expected and she knew Lynn would fret. Fret more that was.

She started off and then paused. She was being watched. She couldn't see anyone, but she could...feel...their scrutiny. She shook herself and then off at a trot, her feet eating up the ground as she ran from the urban areas into partially cleared forest and then into woods. Behind her on the road she had just left, she heard a car screech to a stop and doors slam, but she continued. Police would order her to halt. These did not. She did not look back as she ran, focusing on the ground ahead as she darted around trees, through bushes and basically just tried to stay in motion. She saw the cave mouth and head and darted into it. She hit the wall at a run and slammed into the hideaway, breathing hard.

"Galina!" Lynn said, rising. "What happened?"

"No time." Galina said sharply. "I goofed. Made a mess. Stay here, hide. I will lead pursuers away."

"Who?" Lynn asked. "Galina!" She snapped as Galina emptied her pockets of all money and IDs.

"I do not know and it does not matter." Galina said with a scowl. "Tend Hayden. I will try to lead them as far from here as I can."

"Galina, what _happened_?" Lynn asked sharply. Coming close and reaching for her face. "Your eye..."

"I..." Galina shook her head. "I made a mistake. Yargo would be so disappointed. But I couldn't let that little boy die." She picked up her pistol from the chair and held it out to Lynn.

"Galina..." Lynn said, suddenly afraid. "What..?"

"If I can evade, come back, I will." Galina promised. "I will throw rock through golden doorway. If anyone _else_ try to come in, use pistol."

"I...I am no soldier, Galina..." Lynn said, staring at the pistol as if it were venomous.

"We not have _time_ to argue." Galina snapped. "Food..." She put the pistol back on the chair, quickly dumped the bags out and wadded them up. "I will throw bags away as I run, try to leave trail for them to follow."

"Galina..." Lynn said, aghast. "No."

"You and Hayden have been kind." Galina said, swallowing heavily. "Yargo was kind. But now... I can do what I always wanted to. Defend those who cannot defend themselves. I go lead them away." She paused as Lynn ran to her, threw her arms around Galina and hugged.

"If they take you... We will find you." Hayden's voice came from the cot. It was dazed, weak. "They will not kill you. Anywhere they take you, we can and _will_ find you."

Galina returned Lynn's hug, bowed to Hayden and ran. Just beyond the golden portal, she stopped and listened. Faint voices sounded.

"Where the _hell_ did she go?" A male voice snapped. "She couldn't have gotten past us!"

"Lots of hiding places in these woods." Another male voice replied. "We may need to call for support."

"And _that_ is going to go over _so_ well at Langley. They are already asking questions." The first voice retorted "Why the _hell_ did she run? We just wanted to _talk_."

"How the hell is she supposed to know that? She was taught by one of the best and don't you forget it." The second voice replied. "Anything?" He called. A faint reply sounded and Galina tensed. More than two. Two she might be able to handle if she took them by surprise. More? Not a chance. He spoke again. "She has to be close if the others haven't seen her. Marlena..." He called softly. "We just want to talk."

Galina eased up towards the cave mouth, all of her senses hyper- She froze. She could...see the surrounding area. Men in suits moved through the brush carefully and fairly silently. She shook her head. What was happening to her?

_Your eyes have been opened, Galina._ Hayden's voice sounded in her head! She bit her lip to keep from crying out. _We are no longer human. You, me and Lynn. We are more... And less..._ His voice was weakening.

_Hayden._ Her mental voice was calm. _I can do this. Rest. But would you mind if I ask you something?_

_Go ahead. _Hayden replied.

_My family are dead and gone._ Galina said sadly _But I have found a new one. Now and always I am Galina Tenno._ Hayden's mind was shocked and she hurried to continue. _If you don't mind..._

_Mind?_ Hayden said sharply. _Galina... I am honored._ His tone held pride, sadness and sympathy now. _They are going to quarter the area, find the entrance in minutes at best. We __**will**__ come for you, Galina._

_I know. Father. _ Galina said quietly as she closed down whatever she had opened.

The scene around her was still clear in her mind's eye. Every one of the men was looking away...now. She darted out of the cave, her body held low, moving carefully but quickly to ease herself away from the searches. She didn't look at any of them, simply followed her instincts deeper into the wood.

"Hey!" A shout behind her spurred Galina into fast motion again. "Stop!" The voice called, but she was moving as fast as she could in the deepening afternoon.

She had a duty now. A duty to her new found family. She would not fail them. Not now, not ever. She was Tenno and that was _all_ that mattered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Running**

Galina could hear pursuit behind her as she pounded through the sparse woods. She turned her steps away from the city. The police there had likely figured out she had lied about being a student by now. They would likely not react well if they saw her. She could hear men shouting, but she ignored them. Tires screeched ahead of her as she came to the edge of the woods and a road was visible. A road with a large black vehicle of some kind with a man in a suit in the process of getting out of it. Without even slowing down, she slammed into the opened door, driving it into the man as he fumbled in his jacket. He went down, but she did not tarry to finish him. She ran across the road and was into the other side's woods before he could get up.

Deep in her heart, Galina knew she could not get away. This was not her home. She did not know the land. She had been a city girl for much of her life with only a few excursions to parks and even fewer to places outside the city. She was...

Something slapped into a tree nearby and she put on an extra burst of speed. It hadn't been a bullet, she didn't think. There hadn't been a gunshot, unless it was suppressed. Maybe another tranquilizer dart? She ran on and was about to cross another road when she saw a sign for something called 'Jefferson National Forest'. She altered her course slightly to head that direction. If it was a park, it likely had thicker woods. Maybe a cave she could hide in. She did not hear any further pursuit, but did not kid herself that they had given up.

They had called her Marlena, like that agent named Jackson in Siberia. That made them likely the same organization that Jackson had belonged to since they had sounded like Americans to her not so expert ear. Hayden had mentioned the CIA but she couldn't assume that right now. For all she knew, these men were SVR masquerading as CIA. She really had no way to know. It really didn't change anything. She had to open the distance, lead them further away from-

Something slammed into her left side, throwing her off balance and to the ground. The sick shock was familiar. Once in the lab, a doctor had tested her metal skin's response to gunshot wounds. He had shot her over a period of two days with different weapons. The wounds had healed rapidly, but the shock and then the pain, repeated, had nearly driven her mad. She rolled to her feet, screaming as pain lanced through her back. She would heal. Given time. But if her pursuers were still aiming... She rolled again and a bullet clipped the ground where she had been. She heard the distant report of a rifle, then another as she darted under foliage. Infrared scopes wouldn't work all that well in daylight, but the daylight was fading. She had to hide, had to give herself time to heal!

Something made a rattling noise nearby and she froze. What was that? She had never heard that noise before. She turned slowly to see a snake coiled on the ground nearby, it's tail whipping back and forth, creating the rattling noise. She moved back a bit and the rattling increased. It was going to... Her hand darted out as if of it's own accord, catching the snake in midair just behind the head. It jerked in her hand, and hissed, baring long curved fangs that glistened with poison. Galina just shook her head.

"I have no quarrel with you." Galina said as she started to toss the snake away then paused. If it was a venomous snake... An evil grin crossed her face as she knelt in the middle of a bush, beside a half fallen tree, stilling herself to immobility. To wait in ambush. She didn't have to wait long.

"It was right here." A harsh male voice sounded. "I hit it."

"'Her', agent Gross." Another voice snapped. "Not 'it'. Treating her the way they did was probably what led her to run in the first place. If people treated _me_ like that, I likely would do the same."

"It is an experimental animal." The first voice said sourly. "You heard the briefing."

"And you think the person doing the briefing could find his ass with both hands and a map?" The second agent asked just as sourly. "You _know_ that doc is an imbecile." Galina went still at the word 'doc'.

"I also know he is in charge. I know we have an infectious _carrier_ loose in the continental United States and our superiors will not accept failure." The first voice snapped. "Come on, we have only an hour or two before dark. If 'she'..." He emphasized the pronoun. "...gets into the forest, we may _never_ find her. The FBI searched for five _years_ trying to find Rudolph in similar terrain. "

"No blood." The second voice said after a minute."Are you _sure_ you hit her?"

"She went down and got up again, staggering." The first voice retorted. "Either I hit her or she saw a cool flower and bent to pick it up. Oh and tripped in the process." He said sarcastically.

"I don't get it." The second voice said as the sounds of searching came to Galina's ears. "She is not that big. How the hell can she take a 30-06 to the _back_ and still _run_?"

"How did she hit Johnson hard enough to break his leg?" The first voice asked sourly. Galina smiled at that. She had hurt one of her pursuers. "Yes, she caught him in the door, but still... She cannot be that strong. Not and be human."

Galina reached into herself, past the pain that screamed from her back and focused on the odd sense she had of the surrounding area. Three...human sized forms were moving around the area. Two together and the third... a ways away. It wasn't as clear. Maybe her pain was fuzzing it. Maybe something else. The snake started rattling again and she came back to herself as one of the men cursed.

"Watch it!" He called. "I hear a rattlesnake!"

"Switch to regular rounds." The second voice commanded. Galina paused as clicks sounded from nearby. Regular? Were they using specialty ammunition? His next words made her blood freeze. "The Enferon rounds won't work too well on anything with a normal biochemistry. They won't stop her, but they will slow her down and if we need to kill a snake, well..."

Enferon, that was poison! The bullet that had hit her in Siberia had been coated with that, it had nearly killed her. If this one was too... She had minutes. Maybe. She closed her eyes and listened.

"Snake is in that bush." The first voice said softly. "Think it's a trick?"

"Would she know what a rattlesnake _was_?" The second voice asked. "I don't think they have them in Russia."

"They _do_ have poisonous snakes." The first man retorted. He sighed. "Marlena, if you are in there, we just want to talk." Galina did not move. "Damn it... One of us has to check...She might be unconscious already."

"You just don't like snakes." The second agent said with a sigh. "Fine..." But then something new entered the mix.

"Drop that rifle!" A loud voice shouted from a ways away. Galina stiffened. What the-?

"Oh crap! A ranger!" The first voice said softly. "Ah... Simmons?" He queried.

"Gross, don't! Not an American!" The other one hissed. "Ranger!" The second voice called. "We are Homeland Security agents in pursuit of a suspect. We could use your assistance."

"If you don't drop that rifle right now and keep your hands where I can see them, Mr. 'Agent'..." The voice said sarcastically. "I _will_ consider myself in danger and shoot you. Both of you." A click sounded, a weapon had been taken off safe. "And rest assured, I can hit you with this shotgun and if I do, you ain't gonna get up."

"Ranger..." The second agent said in a reasonable tone. "We have ID. We have authorization to be here. We are hunting a threat to national security."

"You shot a threat to national security in my park without contacting me?" The ranger demanded then snarled. "Go right ahead, Mr. Agent, you swing that rifle further this way. I always wondered what 12 gauge double ought buck does to a guy's head. Even if you got body armor under that expensive suit, you ain't armored _there_!"

"Gross! Put it down! Let's all just be _calm_." Simmons said slowly. "We are on the _same_ side, Ranger."

"Are we?" The ranger demanded. "Weapons down. Now." He commanded. "Last chance." A 'thump' sounded and he gasped. The blast of a shotgun was loud.

"No! Gross, you idiot!" Simmons shouted and Galina was in motion as a body fell nearby.

She exploded out of the bush, the snake in her hand giving out a hiss as it went flying towards a man in a suit who was turning towards her, an odd pistol in hand. She was too far to reach, but the snake wasn't when she let go of it. The agent screamed as the snake hit his face and, being an snake and aggravated, did what snakes _do_ when aggravated. He dropped his weapon and grabbed for the snake as it bit again and again. The other agent's rifle was coming around, his shirt and sleeve torn up by the shotgun blast, but apparently unharmed as he aimed at Galina. Everything seemed to slow as she moved toward him, her arm held forward as if... His eyes went wide as a shimmering field of energy appeared between her and the rifle muzzle, forming a large round shape. The rifle fired and the bullet ricocheted away from the field harmlessly. He fired again and Galina's eyes were as cold as Siberian winter as she stepped forward, her arm swinging.

"Marlena..." The agent dropped his rifle, his hands up and pleading. "Please..."

"My name is Galina Tenno." Galina said with a snarl as she slammed the man to the dirt with the glowing shield. She kicked him, hard enough to hear bones break. Amor that would stop bullets generally did little to stop physical impacts like kicks. "I do not work for you. I _will_ not work for you!" She kicked him again, this time between the legs. Even with the armor she could feel through her boot, he screamed as she stepped on his manhood. "I am visitor to your country. Be glad I am in good mood. Next time you shoot me, you _die_." Another kick sent the man into dreamland.

She looked to the other agent but he was curled up on the ground, his face a mass of bloody bites. The snake, curled up nearby, was hissing in obvious anger.

"I apologize." She said politely to the snake. It seemed the thing to do. "Thank you for your assistance."

The snake hissed at her again, probably something rude in 'snake' then it slithered away. She ignored it, she was looking for the other. She found a man in an odd green and brown uniform lying nearby, a shotgun near his fingers. She knelt beside him, scared. A touch to his neck reassured her that he was alive. A dart was sticking from his arm and she plucked it out with a grimace.

"Tranquilizers... Fegh..." She made a face as she examined the 'ranger'? She didn't know that rank, or organization, or whatever they were.

"You!" A harsh female voice sounded. "Freeze!" Galina looked up into the muzzle of an automatic pistol held by a woman in the same uniform as the male beside her. "I heard shots! What the hell is going on?" She demanded.

"These men...chase me..." Galina said, gasping for breath as adrenaline fled leaving bone deep weariness. "They claim to be CIA. Then they claim to be 'Homeland Security'..." She said softly. "I run... They chase. I hide, they search."

"And I should believe you...why?" The woman demanded, her pistol not wavering.

"You should not." Galina said with a weak smile. "I have no proof. I have no ID. Nothing." She rose slowly. "Your...fellow is tranquilized. I think they meant to take me alive."

"Don't move!" the female ranger commanded but her voice wavered.

"Go ahead and shoot." Galina turned to show the woman her back. "Second time today. You no wish to kill." Galina said sadly. "_I_ no wish to kill. I leave, go away and you never see again."

"Is that blood?" The woman asked cautiously. "It looks...wrong."

"I not know." Galina admitted. "Never looked close. If you are going to shoot, please shoot. Pain keep me awake for longer."

"You are either the best damn actress I have ever seen in my _life_,..." The female ranger said slowly. "...or you are in deep doo-doo, girl."

"'Doo-doo'?" Galina asked curiously. Then she chuckled even though it hurt. "Ah yes. Fecal matter. I am in 'doo-doo' as you say. Neck deep and _sinking_. I no wish to drag _anyone_ else down with me...Ranger?" She inquired.

"Ranger Mikels." The woman said, lowering her pistol a bit. "What happened to them? I saw you kick the one who got hit by Ranger Williams' shotgun. The other?"

"He get snake to face." Galina said quietly. The ranger winced and Galina shrugged despite the pain. "You use what you have. I not think he die, just very painful."

"And that...glowing thing?" The ranger asked carefully. "The thing that deflected the rifle's bullets?"

"No idea." Galina looked at her arm, but nothing happened now. "No idea what happen or why. What I _do_ know is if I here, danger not far. I not wish danger on anyone."

"_Are_ you a danger?" The ranger asked, not moving.

"Only to people who attack me or my family, Ranger Mikels." Galina said with a sigh. "No one else. I have seen enough death to last a lifetime. Speaking of..." She knelt beside the man who had been bitten by the snake. "He is having trouble breathing. Do you have...what is English word? Antivenin?"

"I do." The ranger said dubiously. "But if I take my eyes off of you to treat him, you will vanish, won't you?"

"I will certainly _try_." Galina admitted. "It's not very safe around me, Ranger Mikels." The ranger shook her head, put har weapon back in it's holster, pulled out a set of handcuffs and tossed them to Galina. "Ma'am?" Galina asked as she caught them.

"I am _asking_ you to handcuff yourself to that man." The ranger said as she knelt by her partner, pulling out his handcuffs before rising and walking to the man Galina had kicked. "But I am not actually _watching_ you do it. So... If you do manage to slip away while I am tending that unfortunate victim of a snake attack, it's not my fault." She slapped the cuffs on the unconscious man and rose again, looking at Galina who was staring at her. "Well?" She asked.

"I think you would do well in Russia, Ranger Mikels." Galina grinned as she snapped the handcuffs around the unconscious man's wrists. "My name is Galina Tenno and I _hope_ you _never_ see me again."

"Pity." The woman ranger said as she reached into a large pocket to pull out a hypo. "I think I might like you. Go." She said quietly as she readied the hypo. Galina did not question, she took to her heels as the ranger injected the man and then pulled out a radio and started speaking quickly into it.

Galina was pondering the strangeness of the world as she ran. Some Americans tried to hurt her, some American _helped_ her, it was all...

Why was she on her hands and knees? Why was there a pool of bloody vomit on the ground? Why was her vision darkening? Who were the men in hazmat suits who were coming close? She struggled, trying to fight as one reached for her with a hypo, but a sting and she was falling. She didn't lose consciousness. Indeed, she suddenly felt better. An antidote to the Enferon? Before she could regain any strength to fight, she found herself lifted and strapped into some kind of basket. She looked up as an American military helicopter came into view hovering overhead. A glance to either side showed more men in green haz-mat gear with rifles. The men looked...military, not like intelligence sorts. Their haz-mat suits were military!

"We got her." A distorted voice sounded close by and Galina did not react. She would bide her time. "It's okay, Ma'am. We got you, we will take care of you." Galina did not react as the helicopter lowered a cable, one that was quickly attached to the basket she was in. She tried to speak and she couldn't. All she could do was watch as the helicopter with the letters USMC on the tail pulled her up, away from freedom, into captivity again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Contagious**

Galina did not move as the water blasted over her again, despite the icy chill. The two hazmat suited soldiers who held her did not move either, but then again, she wasn't wearing anything and they were. She hadn't moved or spoken since the soldiers had caught her puking her guts out in a small clearing. Some of them had tried to speak to her and she had ignored them all. She didn't know where they were. A hospital somewhere apparently from what little of it she had seen. She didn't know why they were doing decontamination procedures and didn't really care. She was gaining strength by the minute. Sooner or later, she would get her chance. She hadn't fought when they pulled her clothes off and she wasn't going to fight as they showered her. She was husbanding her strength for when her chance came, not helping the people who held her, but not fighting either. Instead, she listened.

"Sarge...That has got to hurt..." One of the soldiers said softly. "Are the medics ready?"

"Don't let go of her, Corporal." The other soldier snapped. "According to reports, she already disabled two Homeland Security agents. One with a door and one with a _snake_! Admittedly they were intelligence pukes, not Marines. But still..."

"Yes, sergeant." This corporal was the one on her left. "I don't think she is a threat though. She can barely stand up."

"And _that_ is why you are a corporal and will likely stay one." The sergeant to her right said with a sour laugh. "She is _faking_."

"What?" The corporal asked, incredulous.

"Look at her eyes, corporal." The sergeant said with a sigh. "She is fully aware of what is going on. She knows she can't fight right now. So she won't until the odds shift. Right Ma'am?" Galina did not react even when the hand on her right arm gave a squeeze. "Maybe you can take us, Ma'am." The sergeant said with an appraising noise. "But there are eight more Marines with rifles just outside that door with orders to keep you from escaping by any means necessary. From that hole in your back, you are not bulletproof. And as fast as you might be, you are not going to outrun eight rifles." Galina did not react and the man sighed. "I don't like this any more than you do, Corporal, but orders are orders."

"Sarge..." The Corporal said slowly. "I... I don't know if I can do this. Fighting an enemy is one thing. This..."

"I know." The sergeant said softly. "But we have our orders, Corporal. We are Marines, we will obey our orders." The icy water stopped and the hand on her arm twitched. "Come on." Galina stepped forward, but froze as the door ahead of her opened and an operating theater was seen beyond. Several green clad forms standing around a table. A table with restraints! She stiffened in instant rebellion. "Don't be stupid, Ma'am..." The sergeant wanted her. "They have to get the bullet out..." He froze as Galina snarled and focused herself. "Whoa! Don't..." He snapped, but then he paused as Galina focused on her back. On the stab of pain in her back. The one that felt...off.

She heard an exclamation from the table as she bent over in the soldiers' hands, the pain in her back rising. She did the same thing that she had done with the trackers in the hideaway and felt the foreign object start to move.

"Sarge!" The corporal said, his voice taut with fear. "The metal on her back is _rippling_!"

"I see it, corporal!" The sergeant's voice was more controlled, but still held fear. "Whatever you are doing! Stop!" He commanded. Everything came to a sudden halt as Galina gave an explosive grunt and a small metal object fell from her back to clatter on the floor. The sergeant sounded awed now. "Holy..."

"Did she just _expel_ the bullet, sergeant?" The corporal asked, one step removed from terror. "That is not blood!"

"Don't touch that!" A voice Galina thought she recognized sounded as the sergeant moved to nudge the lump of metal away from Galina with a foot. "That is a class four biohazard! I don't know if your MOPP suits will protect from it or not."

"Class _four_?" The Corporal snapped. "We shouldn't be touching her at _all_!"

"That is what I said." The voice sounded again as a small form in a biohazard version of surgical garb stepped forward to sweep the bullet into a box with a plastic spatula that he dropped into the box before closing it. "We should have just sedated the subject for this." Galina went totally still as she recognized the voice. Oh... Did she _ever_ recognize the voice. If she could just... get a hand free...

"Doc, we tried, remember" The sergeant said with a snap. "We did everything you told us to. None of it worked. She wasn't even woozy." Indeed, the soldiers in the helicopter had injected Galina with things, but none of them had any effect.

"Whatever." The doctor snapped. "Get it on the table and restrained and we can take it from there." Galina did not move, indeed, when the soldiers urged her forward, she did not move at all. "Well, get on with it!"

"She is not moving." The sergeant said with a sigh. "This isn't going to end well."

"I thought you Marines were supposed to be _strong!_" The doctor snapped.

"And I thought _doctors_ were supposed to be _smart!_" The sergeant retorted. "Mind telling me why she heard your voice and immediately went into 'fight or flight' mode, doc? She wasn't before. Even when we stripped her and deconned her, she didn't resist. Now... She is gonna."

"It is not a 'she'." The doctor said with a snap, stepping closer. "It is an 'it'. It is not human despite what it may look like..." Galina did not move as the hazmat boots came closer. Closer. "It is not human."

He was close enough! Galina wrenched her left arm out of the Corporal's grip and slammed forward, her fist impacting the hazmat suit's faceplate, cracking it and turning the helmet askew. The sergeant twisted her arm in preparation to take her to the floor and she ignored the pain even when he dislocated it, ignored the fear, indeed, ignored _everything_ except the man whose face was now exposed in front of her. The doctor who had 'studied' her before. His eyes were wide as she grabbed the front of his bulky suit and pulled him close.

"I am more human that you will ever _be_, you lousy excuse for a _Mezner_!" Galina shouted as she slammed her palm towards his vulnerable nose, only to scream as she was jerked back by her dislocated arm. "You and your CIA friends will _never experiment on me again!"_ She screamed as she tried to reach the doctor who was retreating, his hands over his faceplate. "I will _kill you!_" The corporal grabbed her free arm and held on for dear life as she tried to get loose. If she hadn't been so weak from the poison and exertion, she might have gotten loose, dislocated shoulder and all. As it was... she wasn't going anywhere.

"Get it on the table!" The doctor shouted. "I need a new helmet before I can take the samples." None of the others moved. "Well?" He demanded. "Do it!"

"Captain." The sergeant sounded shaken. "Orders are orders... but... Sir..." Galina looked up at the others around the table, one had stepped forward and had rank insignia on his hazmat suit.

"You are right, Sergeant." The officer said with a sigh. "Orders are orders. But this is not right. Stand down."

"You were given an order, Captain!" The doctor snapped, only to recoil again as the captain turned to look at him. "Obey it!"

"You are _not_ my superior, doctor. I had questions about these orders." The captain said softly. "I mean, really? Using Marines and Marine assets. No problem, the CIA does that all the time. _Inside_ the USA?" He asked. "Problem. The CIA is barred _by law_ from conducting intelligence operations inside the borders of the United States. You tell us this girl is a biohazard and to _get_ her. No problem. She was incapacitated when we found her. A matter for the Center for Disease Control who you have countersigned orders from. The orders seem legit. No problem." He shook his head. "But now you talk about her as an experimental _animal_ and she claims you 'experimented' on her. Problem."

"It is not human!" The doctor snapped.

"Not human?" Galina screamed. "I am more human that _you_! You are _monster_! I watch from cage while you kill men, women and children! For what? To repeat Mezner's madness!"

"Ma'am..." The Captain said softly. "Please." He begged her. Galina stiffened. "This is above my pay grade. I was detailed to assist you, doctor. But this... No." The Marine admitted. "Until I am ordered by my direct superiors to turn you over to him. I won't." He promised Galina.

"If they do?" Galina asked, unsure.

"I am going to bump this _way_ up the chain, Ma'am." The Marine said calmly. "As high as I can. Which is pretty high. If they order me to turn you over to him... I will." The captain said softly. Galina stiffened and the captain shook his head. "I don't think they will."

"Why not?" Galina asked. "You are soldier."

"Begging your pardon, Ma'am. I am not a soldier, I am a _Marine_." The captain said with a snort. Then he sobered. "_Are_ you contagious?"

"I not know." Galina said sadly. "That...bullet..." She waved a hand at the case the doctor still held. "That likely _is_."

"Is that so?" The captain asked softly, the other medical personnel coming around the table to stand by the captain. All wore similar hazmat suits. All Marines. All unhappy. "Doctor. Put the case down. Now." There was distinct threat in the captain's voice.

"This is mine!" The doctor snapped.

"If you try to leave this facility with that case, I can and will have you _shot_." The captain said with a snarl. "Infectious biohazard material or no, that _case_ is the property of the United States Marine Corps and you are trying to _steal_ it. I _suggest_ you set it down before you get _hurt_."

"You can't do this!" The doctor nearly cried as one of the others stepped forward to carefully take the case from his trembling hands and set it on the operating table very carefully.

"Watch me." The captain said with a snarl of his own. "Ma'am..." He turned back to Galina. "Do you need a bandage?"

"It will heal." Galina said, dazed. "Why you do this?"

"We are taught as officers that any person in uniform has a duty to obey lawful orders, Ma'am." The captain said quietly as he took a step closer to her. "These orders seemed...off to me. They came through my chain of command, but... not in any normal way. But as long as no one's life was in danger, I am obliged to obey the order and kick it up the chain of command for confirmation. I kicked it up, but am not expecting a reply for a bit. But that changed. When lives _are_ in danger, officers have a duty to question the orders if they seem bogus."

"I don't understand." Galina said after a moment. "Whose life is in danger?"

"His." The captain jerked a thumb at the doc who stood, seeming to be paralyzed. "If _you_ don't kill him, I _might_."

"I will have you cashiered, you stupid grunt!" The doctor nearly screamed.

"Shut up." The captain snapped. "Ma'am. Are you going to fight?"

"Where would I go?" Galina asked sadly. "Doors locked and more 'Marines'..." She emphasized the word. "...outside. I not get far."

"That wouldn't stop you." The Captain said was a shake of his head. "Just because you cannot win... No..." He shook his head again. "It wouldn't stop you from fighting." She looked at him and he had a grin in his voice now. "I know a _lot_ of people like that, Ma'am."

"I no fight." Galina said, slumping. "I...tired. No wish hurt anyone. Just...wish be free. I... I no think I am contagious but I do not know."

"We will figure it out." The Captain promised her. "Sergeant!" He barked and the sergeant stiffened.

"Sir?" The sergeant inquired.

"Take Miss..." The captain paused and spoke to Galina. "What is your name, Ma'am? I am Captain Phillips."

"I am Galina Tenno." Galina said softly. She did not expect the captain to exhale in shock. "What?"

"Tenno?" He demanded. "As in _Hayden_ Tenno? The _Tenno_ who went into Lasria?"

"He is leader of clan." Galina said sadly. "Small clan, but family. You know Hayden?" She asked.

"I have never met him." The captain said with a shrug. "But almost everyone in the US armed forces has heard _something_ about Hayden Tenno. It is not every day that someone tells the _director_ of the _CIA_ to 'go screw a goat'. In _public_, no less. He did it in front of a couple of _hundred_ witnesses. There was no _way_ they were going to keep that quiet." Galina goggled at him and the captain nodded. "You are with him?"

"It is complicated." Galina said softly. "But yes."

"Okay." The captain said with a gulp. "I don't want him mad at _me_, so... Sergeant, do you have any female marines in your squad?"

"Yes, sir." The sergeant was a bit dubious. "Privates Hicks and Boothe are both female. Why, sir?"

"Your orders are as follows, Sergeant." The captain said quietly. "Take Miss Tenno here to a secure room, and _keep_ it secure. No one in or out without _my_ orders until or unless they are countermanded by higher authority. Get her some clothes and something to eat. Have your female marines act as inside guards. _Their_ orders are to shoot dead anyone who tries to enter without authorization."

"Sir?" The sergeant asked, dazed.

"This whole think stinks of black ops. And an infectious biohazard added into it. Yuck? Sergeant, if _half_ of what I have heard about Hayden Tenno is true, we do _not_ want the man mad at us." Captain Phillips said with a sigh. "And as for this piece of trash..." He turned to the doc who was obviously goggling at him. "Have the Shore Patrol lock him in the brig."

"You can't do that!" The doc shouted as two of the hazmat equipped marines grabbed his arms. "Let me _go_!"

"Watch me. _You_ tried to steal United States Marine Corps property and if I am _any_ judge of character, you are a flight risk. We can hold you for 24 hours legally. I think the base commander will approve it. You ticked him off." Galina had to chortle at the Marine officer's dry tone. "Get him out of here " He turned back to Galina as the doc was hustled from the room, protesting every step. "Ma'am? Galina? Your shoulder needs help."

"Dislocated." Galina agreed. "Your sergeant is good."

"Well, of course." The captain agreed. "He is a Marine. Want some help?" Galina nodded and forced herself to relax as the two Marines let go of her. The sergeant stepped close and took her arm in a gentle grip, then gave a quick, practiced yank. She grunted as the shoulder slid back into it's socket. The Captain looked at her as the sergeant let go and she slowly lowered her arm. "What did that doc do?"

"Two years I was lab animal." Galina said softly, her hands running down her exposed metal front. "They infect me with virus, but I not die or change. They curious why. I don't think they figure out. English speaking men come in night, snatch me. I spend time in car, plane and then ship."

"You escaped?" The sergeant asked gently.

"Sailor try to rape me, he see chest is metal and freak." All of the Marines still in the room looked at her and she shrugged. "He Lasrian. He know about Infected, toss me overboard. I swim, am found on beach by kind man who send me to school. I... Is long story after." She said with a sigh.

"I think I would like to hear it." Captain Phillips said with a nod. "But for right now, let's get you somewhere secure, clothed and fed. I need to make a _bunch_ of phone calls."

"I hope you not get in trouble." Galina said as she straightened a bit. "You good man."

"I am a Marine, Ma'am." The Captain replied evenly. "We only take good men. But we better you something to wear before we test that. _And_ we will determine if you are infectious. You won't like that."

"Will you shoot me?" Galina asked sourly. The Captain looked at her. "Doctor did to test metal skin's healing ability. Two days, various weapons from pistol to machine gun. Anything less, no problem." More than one of the Marines gagged at that.

"Sir..." The sergeant said slowly. "We better put a _guard_ around that guy. Or he may get _lynched_."

"Small loss, sergeant." The corporal snapped. He jerked as the captain looked at him. "Sorry, sir."

"Don't be, Corporal." The captain said with a sigh. "I was thinking the same thing, but we better keep this legal. Miss Galina? We will need samples to test."

"Samples of what? Blood? Urine?" She asked seriously. "I can give. You ask, not just take." She said with a smile.

"Like I say, I don't want Hayden mad at me." Captain Phillips said with an exaggerated shudder. "Blood and urine if you can."

"I need bathroom now." Galina said with a nod. "I can give now. But please...be cautious. This virus, _if_ I have, is awful. My whole family die from it."

"I will have someone meet you at the closest bathroom with some sample vials We will need several." Captain Phillips said slowly. "Then the blood, we will need several samples of that as well, but it can wait until you eat." He paused as Galina smiled. "What?"

"I can deal with." Galina said softly. "And captain. Thank you." She said softly.

"Don't thank me until this is over, Miss Galina." Captain Phillips warned her. "I doubt the doc's 'friends' will just give up on this."

"They scared of Hayden too." Galina said softly as the two Marines who had led her in moved to escort her out. "With reason. He terrifying. If they have sense, they run."

"_If_ they have sense, yes." The captain agreed. "Then again...I haven't seen a lot of sense today. Go, eat and rest, Miss Galina. I will have a nurse come to take the blood samples." As she exited, she heard the captain speak again softly.

"And_ I_ will _try_ to figure out how to explain _this_ to the general..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Recruiting**

Galina sat and focused herself as she had been taught. Yargo had been gruff and stern, but also patient and kind in his own way. He had some...odd ideas, but they had worked. The shirt and pants that she had been given did not fit very well, but they covered her well enough for modesty's sake. After years in a cage, she didn't mind so much not wearing anything. But she was a sort of a guest and did not want to disturb her hosts. They had been...kind if distant. She did not blame them. Having to wear hazmat suits all the time had to suck. She didn't want to even think how they had to use the facilities. She took a deep breath and stilled her mind. The response was fast.

_Galina! _Hayden's voice was strong in her mind. _We are on our way! Are you all right?_

_I am not sure. _ Galina admitted. _The doctor who experimented on me before is here._ Hayden gave out a growl, but Galina was quick to reassure him. _He is not in charge now. He irritated the Marines who captured me._

_Not hard to do. _ Hayden replied, calming. _We have tracked you to a Marine base just south of Washington DC, a place called Quantico. Are you sure you are okay?_

_The Marines are...warriors, Hayden. Not intelligence types._ Galina said slowly. _Bluff, uncomplicated and very irritated with being used for something illegal. _Hayden made an interrogatory noise and she explained. _I get the feeling that they would obey orders, no matter how bad, if said orders were __legal__. But apparently, the orders they were given were not._

_Oh, that is __not__ going to go over well._ Hayden replied. _Touch a Marine's honor at your peril!_

_I get that feeling. _Galina replied._ They seem...good...Marines. _She said after a moment.

_You were going to call them soldiers._ Hayden said with a laugh. _Don't do that. They don't generally take offense until the second or third time. But still..._ His voice became serious. _We are on our way, we should be there within the hour._

_Hayden... _Galina said, worried._ Don't do anything stupid. I am in the middle of a base filled with Marines!_

_I am sick of running, Galina. _ Hayden said soberly. _I think it's time we all came in from the cold._

_You would serve the United States? _Galina asked slowly. _After what the CIA did in Lasria?_

_No. _Hayden reassured her. _Not any country and certainly not any intelligence organization._ _Lynn and I have a few ideas. She cannot connect right now, she is driving. I am still a bit woozy._

_Did you steal a car?_ Galina asked, concerned.

_Galina, this is America and we have __money__._ Hayden chided her gently. _I __rented__ a car!_

_Ah. _ Galina said, relaxing. _I must return to my body before Marines get suspicious. But they are...good people, these Marines._

_See you in an hour or so depending on traffic._ Hayden promised and the connection vanished.

Galina sighed as she came out of her meditation and stretched a little from her kneeling position. The two Marines by the door looked at her, their postures hard to tell through the hazmat suits. But they seemed...nervous.

"Problem?" Galina asked calmly as she rose slowly and went one of the room's chairs, careful not to make any sudden moves. Neither of the marines had their rifles ready, but both _were_ armed. Three chairs and a table made up all the furniture in the room. She sat.

"The room sensors detected odd electromagnetic radiation coming from you, Ma'am." The one with Hicks on her name badge said cautiously. "Anything you want to tell us?"

"Electromagnetic?" Galina did not have to feign confusion. Was her mental communication traceable? "From me... How?" She asked, perplexed. The Marines looked at her and she shook her head. "Electromagnetic radiation strong enough to show on room sensors needs a source, yes?" She stared down at herself, shaking her head.. "Am I bugged or wired?" She asked. "I do not think I am, but..." She shrugged. "I do not know."

"We don't know either." Hicks replied. "May I scan you?" She pulled a wand like device from a pouch.

"If it is a metal detector, it will go crazy on my chest, but..." Galina shrugged. "I am in no position to say 'no'." She rose and held out her arms.

"In order: It is an EM detector. And... You are not a prisoner, Ma'am." The private replied. "You are in protective custody. There is a difference." She said as she stepped close, the wand passing close, but never touching. She looked at the reading and shook her head. "Nothing now."

"If I am not a prisoner, you may call me Galina. And... If you do detect it again, please measure it as best you can?" Galina asked as the Marine resumed her place and Galina sat again. "This is all very strange. Things are changing and I do not know how or why."

"Does it hurt?" Hicks asked slowly, the wand vanishing. "The metal?"

"No." Galina replied. "It is very odd. Sometimes it acts like skin and sometimes it acts like metal and sometimes it just acts _weird_."

"Your English is very good." The Marine commented. "Far better than my Russian."

"After lab... I was found by a strange, kind man named Yargo." Galina said sadly. "He cleaned me up, got me to go back to school. I was...very uncivilized." She said in fond memory. "But he was stubborn, that man."

"Spend two years in a cage and just about anyone would be a bit uncivilized." The other Marine said softly. Galina looked at her. The Marine with the nametag of 'Boothe' hadn't spoken but three or four words since being posted in the room. The woman nodded to Galina. "Yes I can talk, I just choose not to."

"Often better to listen." Galina agreed. She bowed her head. "Yargo always say that. He was Colonel in Russian Army, before he retire. Before mess in Lasria. Before...this... He is dead now."

"What happened?" Hicks asked.

"He was killed." Galina said sadly. "Not sure by who or why. But no street criminal. Yargo was good. Careful. I returned home after scare with men in suits and he was dead. Shot." Galina's face turned hard. "I will not likely ever know what happened. But if I _do_ find out and find those responsible... Well..." She shrugged. "I will not do anything in _America_." She said with a sad smile. "I find America strange, but nice."

"We like it." Hicks said with a nod. "But we grew up here." She stiffened and spoke again and not to Galina. "Sir?" She asked. Galina froze. Boothe did not move, probably listening as well. Hicks ignored them, listening to what was likely a built in radio. "Yes sir. Understood." She turned to Galina and nodded. "You are apparently not infectious." Boothe looked at her and then started to remove her hazmat helmet.

"Oh, thank _god!_" Galina said, laying her head down on the table. "I was so worried... So many people touched me in Blacksburg. Some bumped into me in the supermarket and others helped when I was hit by a car. You would have to quarantine the whole _town_."

"That would be a mess." Hicks agreed. Boothe's head came free of her helmet and a dark skinned face shone. Galina stared and then averted her eyes. Boothe raised an eyebrow.

"You have never seen a black woman before?" Boothe asked quietly.

"No." Galina said a bit sheepishly. "I had heard of African Americans of course, but only seen them on TV. Black and white TV. Is not the same. No offense, Private Boothe." Boothe shook her head, bemused.

"None taken." The Marine replied with a small smile.

"_Black and white_ TV?" Hicks asked as she extricated herself from her helmet. Her face was pale white with a tight haircut of blonde hair. "Really?"

"Yargo was not rich. He lived on a colonel's pension. He had an old set he kept running." Galina said with a shrug. "My family before had no need of TV. I saw color on TV for the first time in school, but those were all education programs. Expensive and strictly controlled. I meant no offense..." She nearly pleaded.

"No offense was taken." Boothe repeated. Then she smiled again. "Trust me, if you had offended me, you would know." Hicks sputtered at her side and Boothe waved a finger at her. "You hush."

"You would know, Galina." Hicks said with a wide grin. "Boothe here has all the subtlety of a _tank_ when she gets angry." Boothe growled at her, but Galina could tell it was in humor. "You should see her when she gets _drunk_. She can clear a room all by _herself_." Galina just shook her head.

"You..." Galina sighed. "None of this is what I expected. You are _nothing_ like others I have known who wore uniforms. Is...Is the Marine Corps you belong to so different? Or is this an American thing?"

"A bit of both." Hick said calmly as she resumed her spot by the door. "Marines were originally light amphibious assault troops. We are taught to be self reliant. To improvise, adapt, overcome. We tend to be a bit less...straitlaced about some things. Others, more straitlaced." Galina nodded. "But there are cultural differences as well."

"I would like to learn." Galina said with a nod. "I don't know if I would stay or even be allowed to. But I always liked to learn."

"Learning can be good." Boothe said quietly, then resumed her pose by the door.

"And with that, Miss Stonewall goes silent and stoic again." Hicks said with a grin. "Mind if I ask you some questions, Galina?"

"I do not have many answers." Galina said with a sigh. "If I have answers, I will give them."

"Do you think your...affliction can be duplicated scientifically?" Hicks asked quietly. Galina looked at her and Hicks shrugged. "It has advantages, you have to admit that. _I_ can't expel bullets or heal wounds as fast as that metal can." Galina nodded, her face grave as her hand went to her back and traced where a hole had been a few hours before.

"Only the metal heals or repairs or whatever that fast." Galina said with a sigh. "The rest of me heals as a normal human would." Hicks stared at her.

"Do I want to know how you know that?" The Marine asked slowly. Galina shook her head and the Marine gulped. "Okay, I won't ask."

"You do not want to know." Galina said with a shiver. "But...No, Private. I do not think this can be duplicated by science. The doctors spent almost two years trying. I infected with virus just after I woke in cage first time." Her English broke a bit as she fought her emotions. She shook herself. "Just memory. Is just memory... Not now... I am... not..."

"Galina." Hicks stepped close, her hand outstretched. "Easy..."

"What am I?" Galina demanded, her face in her hands. "Am I human? Monster? I do not _know_!" She cried, tears finally falling after hours of holding her fear and pain in. "I wanted to be _policewoman!_ Not _monster!_" She barely noticed when an arm circled her, when a soft voice crooned to her. Not Hicks. "I am insane. This is all _insane_! I no understand what is happening or why!" She shook herself. "Sorry... I sorry... I just..." A soft cloth brushed her tears away.

"It's all right, Galina." Boothe's voice was gentle. "You have been through a hell of an ordeal. You are tough, as tough as any Marine I have ever met. But there are limits to what any human can take."

"I not human..." Galina cried.

"Yes, you are." Hick's soft voice came from further away. "If you weren't, you wouldn't be hurting so much. Physically, you are different. But who cares about that? I am not physically the same as Boothe and neither of us is the same as anyone else in our squad. Each and every one of us is different, different strengths, different weaknesses. But as a team, few can beat us." There was no arrogance in Hick's voice, just fact.

"I scared..." Galina felt small admitting that. "I so scared. I wanted to protect, to help people. Now? I am only good for scaring people. For hurting people. _I no want to hurt people!_" She screamed.

It all blurred. Someone was talking to her, comforting her. Boothe. She barely recognized the kindness in the voice. The there were other voices. A tenor rumble and a contra-alto response. Other arms surrounded her. Then she was in someone's arms, being carried. Then she was lying on something soft but firm, a warm thing settling over her. A barely noticed sting in her arm had her relaxing into sleep before she could protest.

* * *

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." A familiar male voice said as Galina struggled awake from dreams of tables, doctors and pain.

"H...Hayden...?" Galina stammered, forcing sleep from her fuddled brain as she stared around. She was lying on a bed in what looked like a private hospital room. Hayden was sitting in a chair beside her bed and a familiar form was standing by the door. Boothe was unarmed but she was obviously 'on guard'. "What... What happened?"

"You broke down." Hayden said gently. "No one blames you after all this." He patted her hand. She wasn't hooked up to anything, she noticed.

"Oh..." Galina groaned. "I made a fool of myself, didn't I?"

"Galina..." Hayden said quietly. "Don't be too hard on yourself. We still feel as humans do. We still react as humans do. Even if we are not."

"Hayden!" Galina begged. "Kill me! I do not want to be a monster!"

"You are not a monster." Hayden said calmly, ignoring her plea. "You are a girl who has gone through a horrible ordeal. You did it alone, but you are no longer alone. You are not a monster. You are like me, not human anymore." He patted her hand again as Galina cringed a bit. "It's okay. Galina, it's okay."

"I wanted to protect." Galina sobbed. "I wanted to serve. I didn't want this!"

"We can't always get what we want." Hayden said with a sad smile. "But some good may come of this. You are strong and we will need that strength."

"What are you saying?" Galina asked, wiping her face with the sleeve of her blouse. She still wore the same one she had when in 'protective custody'.

"What I am saying is that the abilities we have are too powerful." Hayden said softly. "If we start working for a government -any government- we will destabilize things. Destabilize them worse." He qualified. "The totally justified fear is this: If we decided to take over the planet, we probably _could_."

"Just the _three_ of us?" Galina stammered.

"Yeah." Hayden said sadly. "The good news is, we don't _want_ to. We wouldn't be able to control it without bloodshed and it would be a huge mess. We are not omnipotent. Heck, we are not even invincible, Galina, just very good and I bet we will get better." He shook his head. "We don't _want_ to rule the world. It would be a massive headache, lots of heartbreak, and for what? What would be the point? Humans are arrogant, fractious, noxious and...begging your pardon, Private..." He nodded to Boothe. "...kind of stupid."

"No argument." The black woman said softly. "Humanity has proven many, many times that a mob is only as smart as it's stupidest member, sir."

"Don't call me 'Sir'." Hayden said with a laugh. "I _work_ for a living!" He said with force. Galina surprised herself with a laugh as Boothe barked one too. "But you are wrong about one thing, Galina." Hayden said, his tone becoming heavy. "There are four of us now. You _were_ infectious when you were bleeding. Now you are not."

"What?" Galina asked, scared. "I infected someone? Who?" She paused as Boothe made a small movement. "No!" She shouted. "No, I didn't!" She pleaded. "Tell me I didn't!"

"I knew there was danger, Galina." Boothe said softly. "But you were hurting. You were crying so hard you had blood in your tears. You needed help. I could give it. I regret nothing."

"No." Galina begged the room. "Not again! I cannot watch someone _change_! _Die_! Not again!" She pleaded with Hayden, but he just smiled.

"You won't." Hayden said quietly and Galina froze in mid-plea. "With Lynn, the full support of the CDC and the Marine's medical staff here working overtime, Private Boothe has changed as much as she will." Galina stared at him and then at Boothe who raised a hand and pointed at her face. Her eyes, Galina also noticed belatedly, had changed to shimmering metal orbs. They looked exactly like flesh and blood eyes, but were made of metal.

"What have I done?" Galina said, sinking back to the bed. "You were kind to me and I have destroyed your _life_!" Boothe came to the bed side and took Galina's hand.

"Galina..." The Marine said quietly. "I joined the Marines right out of high school. It was that or a gang. I was an orphan, no family. I found one in the Marines. But... I don't like what I do."

"What?" Galina asked, stunned.

"You said you don't like hurting people?" Boothe said gently. "I don't like _killing_ people. I have done it. It's my job and I am good at it. But I don't _enjoy_ it. I know people who _do_ and they make me _very_ nervous." Hayden nodded. "Hayden and I talked a bit while you slept, Galina. He has an idea. A good one. I am loyal to the United States, but he is right... These abilities are too powerful. They would only bring misery to a land I am sworn to protect."

"I... Wait! The little boy in Blacksburg!" Galina said, horrified. "He touched me!"

"You were not bleeding at the time, Galina." Hayden said, stroking her hand. "It's okay. You are not infectious now. The Marines and the CDC have seen to that with Lynn's help."

"It's okay, Galina." Boothe said calmly. "Not exactly what I wanted, but hey... It's okay. You need to hear Hayden's idea."

"What idea?" Galina asked as she calmed a bit.

"We are going to separate ourselves, Galina." Hayden said sadly. "Split away and stay away from humanity as a whole. We will find a remote place, build a haven there. Study, learn about who and what we are now. Stay out of the squabbles." He sighed. "If we can. If they let us."

"We will persuade them." The Marine said flatly as Galina started to cry again. "Don't cry, sister. It's okay. My name is not Boothe anymore. Never really liked it anyway, the orphanage named me. My first name is Elizabeth, Galina and I am Elizabeth Tenno." She leaned down and hugged Galina gently.

"They won't just let us go." Galina said as she tried to stop crying. "They won't."

"Oh..." Hayden said with a trace of smugness. "I think they will."


	10. Chapter 10

**Discussions of Change**

"What do we do, Hayden?" Galina asked as she finished pulling on the clothes that had come for her. These fit far better than the others had, but then again, Hayden and Lynn knew Galina's sizes. She tied her shoes carefully and looked up to see Hayden studying her. "What?"

"We are going to be talking to some people, Galina." Hayden said calmly. "High ranked people both in the military and the government. No matter what happens, I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?"

"Will they try to take me for experimentation again?" Galina asked, worried.

"Over my dead body." Hayden said calmly. Elizabeth nodded from where she stood by the door.

"_Our_ dead bodies." Elizabeth promised. "I put in the forms, Hayden. I am a civilian." Galina stared at her, realizing that what the woman wore now was not a uniform. The shirt and blouse were military in cut, but had no rank insignia!

"I asked it before, but I will ask it again. Are you _sure_, Elizabeth?" Hayden asked gently. "You will lose your pension."

"If I stay, that doc or someone like him will try to duplicate this, Hayden. And I will be ordered to comply." Elizabeth said softly. "The brass are not happy, but..." She shrugged. "I think they are a bit relieved I am not going to be around. Even Captain Philips was a bit...leery about me." Galina slumped but Elizabeth shook a finger at her. "Now, now. None of that. It was not your fault. If it was anyone's, it was _mine_. I took off my gloves. But you needed the comfort of an uncovered touch."

"You gave up everything...for me..." Galina said, swallowing hard. "I don't...feel worthy of that."

"Sort of." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "I was thinking about not re-upping. I was a good Marine, but... I was tired. Tired of fighting, killing. My enlistment would have been up in a month and a half anyway. This just sped it up a little." Hayden looked at her and she shook her head. "You were right."

"What did they offer?" Hayden asked, groaning. Galina looked at him and he shrugged. "The CIA wasn't going to just let her slip away without at least _trying_ to recruit her to spy on us." Galina's eyes went wide and then she looked at Elizabeth speculatively. Elizabeth, for her part, blushed.

"They offered me a million dollars to let them take tissue samples. I told them what they could do with their sampling machines." Elizabeth said sourly. "Then they offered me _two_ million to spy on you. As you said, they appealed to my patriotism. I don't like lying, Hayden." She said with a glower.

"Two million dollars?" Galina said, feeling faint enough that she sat quickly. "And you said 'no'?" She asked, incredulous.

"Heck no." Hayden said with a grin. "I told her to say 'Yes' but to haggle a bit." Galina stared at him and then at Elizabeth who looked chagrined. "How high did you get them to go?"

"They probably would have given me three." Elizabeth said sourly. "But I got them up to two and a half."

"So... you will spy for them?" Galina said slowly, confused.

"Technically no." Elizabeth said with a shrug. "Hayden says it's a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I don't like it."

"She is not spying for them. She is spying on _them_ for _us_. Basically, the CIA will not stop trying to spy on us. It's what they _do_. They will not stop trying to duplicate their wonder weapon." Hayden said with a sigh as Galina stared from him to Elizabeth and back. "This will give us some breathing room. I fully expect SVR , MI-6, Mossad and others to show up to try and 'recruit' Elizabeth to spy for _them_ too. I told her to accept their offers too." Hayden smiled at Galina's incredulous look. "Look..." He sighed."We need to keep them all off balance or they _will_ get stupid like the Chinese were." Galina winced in memory.

"I am going to go _crazy_ trying to keep it all straight, Hayden." Elizabeth complained. "Am I a double, triple, quadruple..._quintuple_ agent?" She asked plaintively.

"None of the above. You work for _us_." Hayden said with a shake of his head. "And...from a pragmatic point of view...having the ears of most the major intelligence services on the planet cannot be a bad thing."

"Except for my sanity." Elizabeth said, not bothering to try to muffle her uneasiness.

"I will help." Galina said as she rose and walked to Elizabeth. "Yargo... He was GRU under the Soviets, before he retired. He taught me a bit about intelligence work. I owe you."

"Galina..." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "You don't owe me anything. It was not your fault. You cannot control a virus. The people responsible for the release of the virus in Lasria are dead. The people that did horrors to you and Lynn _will_ be held accountable for them." Hayden glanced at her and she flushed. "I have to believe that, Hayden. I have to."

"The convenient 'loss' of an obsolete American submarine during the Cold War near the coast of Lasria was a clandestine bio-weapon test." Hayden said softly. "The ones responsible may have had the good of the United States at heart, they may not have. We may never know. But we have to deal with the now. The Technocyte Virus _cannot_ be allowed out in any way, shape or form. It is simply too _dangerous_. Mezner was just going to release it. The CIA and others think they can control it. They are wrong."

"Give me a straight fight any day." Elizabeth said with a shiver. "Weapons of mass destruction are _wrong_."

"No argument there." Hayden said with a nod. "You set, Galina?"

"I...think so." Galina said with a sigh. "Are you _sure_ I am not infectious now?"

"The only reason you infected me was because I touched your blood unprotected." Elizabeth said, tapping Galina on the nose. "Can that attitude, girl. You are a strong and tough member of Clan Tenno. Act it." She commanded. Galina stiffened, but then nodded. Elizabeth smiled and continued. "Good. Lynn and the medics here have run me through a wringer. We all have the virus in us still, but it's dormant now. I hope the treatment hey came up with _keeps_ it that way."

"You and me both." Hayden said softly. "But that is another reason to sequester ourselves."

"Any ideas where?" Elizabeth asked sourly. "Not a lot of places on Earth are truly remote. I know. I have been a bunch of 'inaccessible' places in the line of duty."

"Me too." Hayden agreed. "Siberia didn't work. But Lynn has a couple of ideas."

"Where _is_ Lynn?" Galina asked slowly, looking around.

"Talking to her family." Elizabeth said softly. Galina stiffened and Elizabeth nodded. "If we _are_ going to be...separate... This is the last chance she will get. I...um...made her do it."

"She never listened when _I_ told her to." Hayden said sadly but then he smiled. "It took calling in the Marines." Elizabeth groaned and shook her head. "What?" Hayden asked, mock plaintively. "It's the truth. We ready?"

"I am not sure 'ready' is going to be the right word." Elizabeth said as Galina moved to stand beside her. "As ready as we are going to be."

Hayden nodded, patted Galina's shoulder and started for the door. Galina followed, hyperaware of Elizabeth following. Actually... Galina paused and then jerked as she felt something very odd.

_Don't push it._ Elizabeth's voice came into Galina's mind. _You were not a soldier, Galina. Don't push it too far._

_But...I can feel... _Galina cast out with her mind and was suddenly overwhelmed with a lot of different things, voices! She suddenly realized. She could hear many voices, people who were not present! All around her, people were talking. Some hostile, some calm, some... She blushed as one voice whispered something she prayed no one else could hear. She gasped, Hayden and Elizabeth were immediately at her side.

_Galina!_ Hayden's mental voice was sharp. _Close your mind! No one is there but you! Do it now! _Galina shook herself and then relaxed as the myriad of muttering voices that she had been hearing vanished. "Good girl." Hayden said aloud. "It's overwhelming, I know."

"We can read _minds_?" Galina said in a low tone. "Oh my god..."

"No." Hayden said with a sigh. "We can hear far, far better than normal humans, but loud noises will affect us worse as well. We don't just use our ears to listen, but we cannot read minds. Or..." He paused with a grimace. "_I_ can't and Lynn can't... I don't know how your abilities will evolve. Mine kind of..um..." He shrugged. "I was fighting for my life just after I was infected, so my own changes took a martial turn. Offense and defense." He patted Galina's shoulder. "Better?"

"That was...rather distressing." Galina said with a gulp. "I _hope_ I can't read minds. There are many things I _really_ don't want to know."

"Smart girl." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "Come on." She said, stepping off. "They are waiting." The door opened as they approached it and two Marines in dress uniforms stood waiting. Both nodded to Hayden who nodded back.

"We are late." Hayden said softly. "Is Lynn meeting us?" As he finished speaking, another Marine strode up, Lynn following. The doctor wore a nice dress but her face was red and streaked with tears. Galina moved to embrace her and Lynn returned it but remained silent. "We are all here." He said to the Marine who nodded. "Did the suits ever calm down?" He asked as the Marine started off and the odd cavalcade followed.

"I don't think they ever calm down, Sir." The Marine said diffidently. "It's their job to be paranoid. And you _are_ armed."

"And it's not something I can take off or deactivate." Hayden said with a sigh. "If I could, I _would_. I can't."

"Hayden?" Galina asked as she walked beside Lynn, her hand on the doctor's arm. "Problem?"

"The Glaive is part of me, Galina. I can't take it off." Hayden shrugged. "The Secret Service are not amused by things they don't understand. Especially dangerous things."

"Secret Service?" Galina wracked her mind, but did not remember who they were. "Who are they?"

"Bodyguards for bigwigs." Elizabeth said with a sigh of her own. "Good at what they do, but paranoia is their job. You gotta admit Hayden is scary." Hayden nodded as Galina did.

"True." Galina agreed. "Who are we meeting? I feel... underdressed." She said, looking at the Marines' dress uniforms.

"We are meeting the President, Galina." Hayden said quietly. Galina froze in mid-step and Hayden nudged her. "Come on, the man doesn't have a lot of time."

"The...President...of the United..States..." Galina asked weakly. "Hayden... I am not an American... I am here illegally..."

"Galina." Elizabeth said sourly. "Hush. It's all right. The government has _far_ bigger problems right now that one lone Russian in country without a visa." Lynn smiled a bit at that, but didn't speak. Galina hugged her again.

"I am sorry, Lynn..." Galina said sadly. "I wish..." Lynn shook her head.

"Now they know." Lynn said, her voice a mass of sadness. "They aren't plagued by doubt. They are not wondering what happened. They... They wanted to see me in person, but I can't handle that. They are sad but...I think they understand. I hope so. I really do."

"If I can do anything, Lynn, ask." Galina said, her face and voice abject.

"Thank you." Lynn said, giving the girl a squeeze. "Come on, we shouldn't keep a head of state waiting."

The three Marine led the group through the corridors of the facility and Galina was quickly lost. But they never slowed. Hayden and Elizabeth looked from side to side, obviously cataloguing, marking, scrutinizing as they had been trained. Lynn just stared straight ahead and Galina stayed beside her. The Marines led them to a door that was guarded by two Marines in full battle dress and two men in suits. All four of the guards held automatic rifles. Galina shivered a bit, but Hayden smiled.

"Good precautions." He said mildly. "I assume we have been scanned already? We would set every metal detector in the building abuzz if you do it here."

"You set a finger out of line, Mr. Tenno..." One of the suited forms said evenly. "And you will hit the ground in pieces." Far from cowed, Hayden just nodded.

"I haven't been an assassin since Lasria, Agent." Hayden said with a shrug. "I have no reason to start again. There are only _two_ reasons I will fight now. To protect my family..." Elizabeth, Lynn and Galina closed with him, forming a wedge of solidarity. "...and to keep stupid people from playing with things that they do not understand. Things that do not _appreciate_ being played with." He said, a hint of ice in his tone now. "I couldn't care less about politics, money or power. They can't turn back time or bring back my humanity. Your boss wants to talk to us. I have no quarrel with him. _He_ is perfectly safe from me. But if _you_ do not point those weapons somewhere else -right now- _you_ are _not_."

"Hayden..." Elizabeth said softly. "Is getting in a fight with the Secret Service part of your plan?"

"Their job is to keep the President safe." Hayden said with a shrug. "_My_ job is to keep my family safe. I haven't been doing a good job of that recently. That changes now. You want to aim at me, Agent, feel _free_. You aim at any of my other kin and you will be dead before you hit the ground." His tone was matter of fact, calm and precise.

"You are covered by multiple automatic weapons." The agent said, his tone a bit shaken. "And we have Inferno rounds."

"Do you really think I care? I went into Lasria alone and I walked out alone. The Lasrian Military had Enferon." Hayden asked, still calm. "I am a threat, yes. Lynn, Galina and Elizabeth are _not_." He said, biting the last word.

"Hayden." Galina said, stepping forward. "Calm down. They are doing their job. You say they are bodyguards, yes?" Hayden did not move and Galina shook her head. "Hayden. Calm down." She repeated, a bite entering her words.

"Galina." Hayden said sharply, but she was having none of it.

"Hayden, hush." Galina snapped, a rush of affection and exasperation warring within her. "They are doing their job." She turned to the agents and shook her head. "Those rifles won't do you any good against him. He can and will reflect the bullets back at you." Both agents stared at her and then at the rifles they held.

"Galina..." Hayden groaned.

"Hayden, hush." Galina repeated with a snarl that matched any of his. "We are not here to start a fight. We are not here to slaughter people who are trying to do their jobs if said jobs do not involve the virus, yes?" Hayden nodded, manifestly against his will. "Then this is what I am going to do. Agent..." She nodded to the Secret Serviceman. "_I_ will hold the hand he manifests the Glaive from. He will not be able to summon it without cutting me. And since he is determined to protect me no matter the cost..." Muffled laughs came from Lynn and Elizabeth as Hayden groaned again. She took Hayden's right hand in her left and it gave hers a squeeze. "Well?" She asked.

"If you let go..." The agent started and Galina snarled at _him_!

"If I let go, I will have a good reason. A better reason than delaying us..." She paused and then she smiled. "You are holding us out here for a reason. May we know why?" Hayden stared at her and she shrugged, not letting go of his hand. "They are not stupid, Hayden. They know that the two of them cannot win against you. So..." She shook her head. "Was this a test or simply a delay?"

"Both." The agent said, finally lowering his rifle as the other agent did the same. "They are setting up a conference call. And we needed to know."

"You are insanely dedicated or just insane." Galina commented. "Do I have to hold his hand the whole time?" She asked calmly.

"No. You made your points." The agent replied, stepping aside. He keyed his com and then nodded. "They are ready for you. We are watching."

"I would expect nothing less." Hayden said as Galina started for the door. "How did you know it was a test?"

"Yargo was fond of poker." Galina said with a sad sigh. "Word of advice, never play poker with a man who has only one eye. It is...unpleasant to try to bluff such a man."

"They were not bluffing, Galina." Hayden protested mildly, keeping his hand in hers.

"Neither were you." Galina said dryly. "And we will need to talk about this over protectiveness sometime. I was hurt before. Now I am not. I can fight my own battles, Hayden." He smiled and she looked at him. "You planned this, didn't you?" He didn't comment, but his eyes were twinkling. "You did." She said, incredulous.

"Got you out of your shell." Hayden said. That...might not have been the best time for the door ahead to open, just as she swatted him with her free hand.

"Ah..." Galina dropped her hands to her side and Hayden nodded to the man who sat at the head of the table. For his part, the man in the suit grinned.

"Oh, don't stop on my account." The large African American man said with a smile. "Ever since I first spoke to Mr. Tenno, I have wanted to swat him a few times myself. And I thought _Congress_ could be cocky and arrogant."

"It's only arrogance if you can't deliver, Mr. President." Hayden said with a nod. Elizabeth and Lynn moved to flank the other two. "We are all here."

"Good." Barack Obama said with a nod. "We are about to go live."

"With who?" Galina asked, staring around with wide eyes., No guards were in evidence except another pair of suits who stood between the four Tenno and the President. But an odd shimmering also was between them. Some kind of barrier? That made sense actually. The President nodded at her.

"President Putin of Russia and Prime Minister David Cameron of England." The President of the United States said as Galina gulped. "The three countries with citizens involved in this...mess. Time?" He asked as Galina paled a bit.

A Marine technician Galina hadn't seen rose from a chair to salute.

"We are live, Mr. President."


	11. Chapter 11

**High Level Diplomacy**

Galina swallowed as two video screens came alive. One showing a man she didn't know, apparently this Cameron who she had never heard of. The other one she knew. Vladimir Putin was not happy.

YA khotel by pogovorit' s moyey zemlyachke v odinochku. (I would talk to my countrywoman alone.) The Russian President said sharply in Russian.

"I am afraid that is not possible." The President of the United States after a translation appeared on a screen nearby. Galina quailed a bit. Hayden's hand, which she still held, gave hers a squeeze. Putin looked to turn livid, but the African American President shook his head. "These are not my terms, President Putin. These four have chosen to stand together and sequester themselves from the human race."

Eto smeshno (This is ridiculous.) Putin snapped. Eti chetyre ? Amerikanskiy ubiytsa , amerikanskiy morskoy , vrach i odin iz moikh lyudey reshili ... chto? Brosit' vyzov vsem nam ? (These four? An American assassin, an American Marine, a doctor and one of my people have decided...what? To defy us all?) Obama looked at Hayden who nodded.

"Not if we can help it, President Putin." Hayden said calmly. "But we have a major problem. And by we, I mean 'us'..." He indicated the three others with him. "The others have taken my name. I...feel humbled by that. I was the first. It is a grave responsibility."

Vy Khayden Tenno ? (You are Hayden Tenno.) Putin asked after a moment. Hayden nodded. My v dolgu pered vami dolg za Lasria , no to, chto vy prosite ... Eto nevozmozhno. (We owe you a debt for Lasria, but what you ask... It is impossible.)

"Sir." Hayden said softly. "This virus must _not_ be allowed out. What I faced in Lasria makes any history book telling of horror pale in comparison. Perhaps one of the survivors of what your people call 'The Great Patriotic War' would understand. No one else. I know you have seen reports. Your intelligence agencies have made full reports. The human race came with a _hairsbreadth_ of an Infected Apocalypse, sir." Putin nodded soberly and Hayden continued. "The four of us have sworn not to let that happen again." Galina nodded with Elizabeth and Lynn.

Tol'kochetvero iz vas ? (Just the four of you?) Putin didn't bother to hide his disbelief.

"Sir..." Hayden suddenly looked sad and tired. "We are all that we have. None of us are human anymore." Putin and the other man who hadn't spoken yet tensed at that, but the American President did not react. "The abilities we have, the powers we have... These are too powerful, sir. Begging your pardons..." Hayden said without much apology. "Putting ourselves into the services of any country would be like handing a child a loaded weapon with the safety off." Obama and Cameron winced at that, Putin did not. " All that will happen is death and destruction to no end. I have nothing against any member of humanity as long as they do not attack me or mine. But I am not human anymore. I haven't been human since Lasria." Putin shook his head, obviously stunned by this.

"What will you do?" The other man asked. David Cameron, Prime Minister of England. Hayden looked at Lynn who nodded and spoke evenly.

"We will find somewhere remote." Lynn said softly. "Our...abilities grant us resistance to weather extremes. We will study this virus, this affliction. We will see if we can find a way back. But until we do..." She shrugged. "We saw what happened in Lasria."

To, chto Soyedinennyye Shtaty sdelali v Lasria (What the United States did in Lasria.) Putin snapped. I my dolzhny doveryat' dvukh amerikanskikh agentov , chtoby ne sdelat' eto snova ? (And we should trust two American agents not to do it again?) He demanded.

"No." Galina said softly but clearly. Suddenly all eyes were on her. "Hayden is not American now. Elizabeth is not American now. Lynn is not English now. I am not Lasrian now. We are Tenno." She said calmly. "No more, no less." Hayden squeezed her hand again.

Vy deystvitel'no verite , chto bezumiye , devochka? (You really believe that insanity, girl?) Putin asked, his tone bemused.

Da. Galina snapped. YA Tenno ! (I am Tenno!) She said firmly in Russian and then switched back to English. "My family died in Lasria, Presidents Obama and Putin, Prime Minister Cameron. My family was poor, but we believed in our government. Foolish, perhaps..." She said softly. "But we believed. Where was our government, sir?" She demanded of Putin who looked at her.

Gde ty byl , kogda moya sem'ya pogibla ? (Where were you when my family died?) She snapped in Russian. Kogda ya prosnulsya v kletke muchit'sya v techeniye mnogikh let ? Gde pravitel'stvo? (When I woke in a cage to be tormented for years? _Where_ was the government? ) She swallowed heavily. Krome vracha, kotoryy " izuchal" menya ... Vse ostal'nyye govorili na russkom yazyke (Except for the doctor who 'studied' me... All the others spoke _Russian_.) She glared at Putin and he actually seemed to recoil. Vy ne znali, chto , a vam? (You didn't know that, did you?) She asked with a wince.

"Nyet." Putin's face was ashen. YA etogo ne sdelal. (I did not.) His face became stern now. No eto oruzhiye ... (But this weapon...) He broke off as Galina shook her head. Chto? (What?)

"This must never happen again." Galina said sadly in English. Hayden squeezed her hand again. "We cannot allow this to happen again. We must not. We escaped horror unimaginable due to Hayden's actions, but he was lucky." All three heads of state looked at Hayden who nodded.

"I was." Hayden agreed. "Mezner didn't _want_ to kill me. He was insane, but to the very end, he thought he could sway me to his side. Dixon's choice to try to use him was...misguided at best." Putin looked thunderous, but Hayden raised a hand. "Sir..." He interjected before Putin could speak. "If the USSR had found the virus _first_ during the Cold War, what would they have done with it?" Putin looked like he had swallowed something sour, but then he nodded.

Proveryal. (Tested it.) The President of Russian said with a sigh. Pri etom izmenyayetsya malo. Eto moshchnoye oruzhiye. (This changes little. It is a powerful weapon.)

"Agreed." Hayden said softly. "But... I need to tell you three something that I haven't told anyone. Not even Lynn." The others around Hayden stared at him and the heads of state did. "Several of the more powerful Infected I fought were older than 1987. Far older." Putin froze, Obama likewise. Cameron shook his head.

"If it was a bioweapon, where did they come from?" The Prime Minister of England asked carefully. "The Infected that I saw a report on were all humans who were infected by the virus, hence the name."

"I don't know." Hayden said quietly. "And that _scares_ me. They were fast, smart and capable of hurling bolts of electromagnetic energy from their hands. One of them used a former GRU Colonel named Yargo Mensik as bait for me. It failed, and all the others as well. But I have no idea where they came from."

"Bozhe moi" Galina said as the Russian president said the exact same thing and the American President cursed under his breath.

"You see the problem." Hayden nodded. "If these things are still out there -and some could turn invisible so it is entirely possible some slipped the cordon-..." At that, the Obama actually gulped and Hayden nodded again. "A conventional military will not be able to _find_ them. Let alone _fight_ them."

Tak chto zhe vy predlagayete? (So what do you propose?) Putin said, calming a bit.

"I propose you let us prepare to fight them,." Hayden said softly. Galina stared at him and he smiled a bit at her. "Not all of us are fighters, but none of us wish this virus to spread any further than it has. Technically, we will not be a military. More a special response team."

"You consider yourself some kind of superhero?" Cameron asked in the silence that fell.

"No." Hayden said simply. "There are limits to even _my_ arrogance." He said with a smile. "I am a being with powers that humans do not have. But I am not invincible."

"What would you need?" Obama asked after they had digested the information for a moment.

"I am going to be trying to duplicate the armor that I wear." Hayden said quietly. Putin glared at him and Hayden shrugged. "I can't take it off, sir. And it was the only way to win in Lasria. Technically, I _did_ steal it. But no one else would be able to use it." His eyes narrowed. "How many men died trying?"

Zapisey , kotoryye dostupny ne govoryat. (The records that are available do not say.) Putin said with a grimace. Tol'ko to, chto lyudi umerli posle sdachi yego. (Only that men died after putting it on.)

"I can believe it." Haydn said with a sigh. "It hurt like hell."

"One thing I do not understand..." Cameron said before anyone else could speak. Hayden looked at him and he nodded. "The records I have seen say you suffer from congenital analgia, an inability to feel pain."

"Yes. But that was before I was infected." Hayden corrected the Prime Minister quietly. "After? Oh yeah, I felt pain. It was heck of a shock. First time in my life I felt pain was when Mezner's subordinate stabbed me in the shoulder to inject me with the virus." Cameron and Obama winced at that, Putin remained stonefaced.

"So the four of you who have been infected with the virus wish to sequester yourselves." Obama said with a nod. "Where?"

"Antarctica looks perfect." Lynn replied calmly. The three heads of state stared at her and she shrugged. "No indigenous populations, hard to access, forbidding terrain... Siberia worked but you and the Chinese found us quickly."

"Ah, yes... The Chinese... What will the Chinese do?" Cameron asked. "The reports I have seen say they haven't given up on...um...forcibly recruiting you." He said to Hayden.

"I fully expect them to keep throwing men away, sir." Hayden said with a sigh. "But if we build a citadel of some kind in the wastelands of Antarctica... Well..." He shrugged., "Men have been vanishing in Antarctica since the continent was discovered."

"But satellites would..."Cameron started and then trailed off as Hayden looked at him. He chuckled a bit and then sighed. "Never mind. You hid from satellites in Siberia. No reason you can't do it elsewhere."

Tam do sikh por , kazhetsya, net nikakoy pol'zy dlya nas ot etogo (There still seems to be no benefit to us from this.) Putin said thoughtfully. Galina nodded and replied.

"First and foremost, you do not lose any people trying to track us down." Galina said with a nod. "Second, we will not work for you. But we will not work against you either. I still feel for my home." The girl said with a sigh. "I miss my family and Lasria. I may not be human anymore, President Putin." She said with a nod. "But I do not wish to work against Russia. I _do_ wish to stop this virus."

"How do we know you will not work against us?" Obama asked carefully. "If you are not human, then your motivations may change."

"Begging your pardon, Mr. President." Hayden said with a sigh. "We are not a government. We will not change our minds to fit tomorrow's political expediency. Every one of us has lost things to this virus. None of us want to see it happen again."

Idealizm (Idealism?) Putin asked slowly.

"No." Hayden said , still calm. "Realpolitik." He replied. Putin stared at him and then burst out laughing. Cameron and Obama also stared at him. Hayden shrugged. "We live in the real world. This virus is a horror almost beyond imagining. If it gets loose, humanity is doomed, but as Galina says, we..." He indicated the others. "We still feel for humanity. We will defend it from this virus and any who wish to use it as a weapon of war. _Any_." He said with a snarl. "There is your benefit, President Putin."

My ne mozhem kontrolirovat' vas. (We cannot control you.) The Russian President said softly. Hayden shook his head. Eto budet stoit' nam ochen' dorogo , chtoby poprobovat'. (It would cost us dearly to try.) Hayden nodded again and the man on the screen sighed. Chto vam nuzhno? (What do you need?)

"Very little." Hayden replied. "We wish to be left alone. Elizabeth and I are soldiers, Galina and Lynn are not. But _this_ is non negotiable. If we hear of another lab experimenting on humans with this virus, we will stop it. Permanently. We would _like_ not to be tripping over the various intelligence agencies in the process."

"The four of you, no matter how powerful you may be..." President Obama said with a shake of his head. "You cannot do this alone. At the very least, you could use some intelligence, could you not?"

"If we could trust it." Hayden said bluntly. "And anyone that you appoint would be loyal to you first." Galina exclaimed and he turned to her. "Galina?"

"Aunt Irina?" Galina asked with an impish smile. Hayden stared at her and then he laughed.

"What?" The President of the United States asked with a confused look that the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of England shared.

"You are right, Mr. President." Hayden said with a nod. "We could use an intelligence liaison. Someone who knows the ins and outs of the various country's agencies. Someone who we can trust as well."

"I assume you have someone in mind?" Cameron asked carefully.

"We do." Hayden agreed. "Captain irina of the SVR." Putin exhaled sharply, his face set and Hayden smiled. "I see you know her too."

Ona ... Kak vy skazali? Loose Cannon ? (She is... How you say? Loose cannon?) Putin said, his face paling. Vy khotite yeye ? (You want _her_?)

"She is a patriot." Hayden said with a sigh. "She believes in Russia. But she is also getting old and she cannot keep up with the younger agents. But don't tell _her_ I said that!" He said, looking worried. Putin barked a laugh at that and Hayden grimaced. "Yes, I think she will of nicely."

"Why the SVR?" Cameron asked slowly.

"Because Irina understands how the world actually works." Hayden said with a nod. "I worked with her a few times before Lasria. And to put it frankly, I don't trust the CIA and the doctor who experimented on Lynn and Galina was a Brit." Lynn and Galina both froze and Hayden nodded. "No time to tell you two. Sorry."

"If I ever catch that man alone..." Lynn said slowly. "I will show him how my Celtish ancestors dealt with oathbreakers." Galina nodded fervently. "I don't like calling medical professionals 'quacks' but he is one. I have questions for him! Is he still on this base." She demanded. The American President shook his head and she sighed. "Pity."

"More than you know, Doctor Lynn." President Obama said with a sigh of his own. "He vanished out of the brig thirty minutes before I arrived. And the bullet is gone as well." Hayden froze and saw Galina, Lynn and Elizabeth do the same.

Pulya (Bullet?) Putin demanded. Chto pulyu? (What bullet?)

"The bullet that CIA operatives operating illegally in the United States shot me with." Galina shuddered. Putin looked thunderous and Galina shook her head. "I hurt the men responsible, sir."

"That she did. She used a _snake_, Vladimir." Obama said with a wince. "Remind _me_ to never make her angry." Putin stared at them and then laughed again.

Zmeya borot'sya zmey. Khoroshaya devochka. (A snake to fight snakes. Good girl.) The President of Russia was chortling over that, but then he sobered. Eto obrazets ... Ne dolzhny stat' svobodnymi . (That sample... Must not get loose.)

"Agreed." Hayden said with a nod. "If you could get Captain Irina briefed in and on the way as soon as possible, it would be appreciated." Putin nodded.

"Da." The Russian President said with a nod. K kontsu dnya. (By the end of the day.)

"Why a Russian?" Obama asked after a moment. "I understand your bad experiences with the CIA and a British doctor."

"She is Galina's last living human kin." Hayden said quietly and all three heads of state froze. "None of the rest of us have any family left. But she does. And before _anyone_ gets any ideas. We will not negotiate. But this is one thing I will say. I take Galina's happiness very seriously. You do not want to press me on this." Putin looked at him and then nodded slowly.

Vy prinimayete na sebya obyazannosti ottsa ser'yezno. (You are taking the duties of a father seriously.) Putin said with a frown. Eto khorosho. (That is good.) But then he laughed. Hayden stared at him. Udachi . Vy budete nuzhdat'sya v etom . (Good luck. You will need it.)

"Thanks." Hayden said dryly. "If Galina and Lynn an get a ride back to Blacksburg Mr. President, I think Elizabeth and I need to find that bullet. Like now."

"You may need us, Hayden." Lynn said calmly, Galina nodded as well. "We are not combat personnel, but if anyone else is infected... You will need us."

"Lynn..." Hayden protested, but Putin cut him off.

Ne delay etogo , mal'chik. Ne delayte yeye serdit. Vy budete sozhalet' ob etom (Don't do it, boy. Don't make her angry. You will regret it.) The Russian said with a grin that faded. Vse, chto vam nuzhno , zvonite , tovarishch (Anything you need, call, Comrade.) The screen that showed him went dark.

"I never thought I would see the day _Vladimir Putin_ called an _American_ 'Comrade' and it wasn't mocking." Cameron said softly. "But for what it is worth, good hunting. Anything _we_ can do. Ask." His image vanished as well.

"But you are not American anymore, are you?" Barack Obama said sadly. "Pity, but... probably for the best. What do you need?"

"Access to a Marine Corps armory for myself and Elizabeth." Hayden said with a curt nod. "Lynn, I need you and Galina to go back to the safe house in Blacksburg and get some stuff. You know what we will need. If I can get secure transport for them?" He asked the President who nodded.

"That 'safe house' is the cave with the golden wall that no one can pass?" The American President asked with a smile. Hayden groaned and the President shrugged. "It wasn't that well hidden by all accounts. I have Marines guarding it now and we will arrange Marine transportation to them there and back."

"And while they are getting what we might need, Elizabeth and I will get what we _will_ need.: Hayden said calmly.

"Just...keep it quiet if you can." The President said with a wince. "This isn't Lasria."

"I like collateral damage about as well as any normal person does, Mr. President." Hayden said with a matching wince. "We can be discrete." Both Lynn and Galina snorted in unison at that and Hayden waved at then. "Hush..."

"You really do want to get hurt, don't you?" Obama asked with a smile. Hayden looked at him and the President shrugged. "I am married and have kids, Hayden. You have _no_ idea."

"We will teach him." Galina said with a predatory smile that Elizabeth and Lynn shared. Suddenly Hayden looked a lot less confident. "But for now, we hunt."

"Good luck." The American President said with a nod. "And godspeed."


	12. Chapter 12

**Preparations**

It was a _very_ different helicopter ride. Yes, Galina was back in a US Marine helicopter, surrounded by armed Marines. But that was the only similarity. This one as far larger and had two rotors, one at the front and one at the back. She wasn't strapped into a basket, half out of her mind from poison. She and Lynn were wearing badly fitting flight helmets, but were grateful for them. The helicopter was loud!

Galina found that she was actually enjoying this, staring at the scenery through the small windows. It helped take her mind off what was likely to come. Lynn hadn't spoken since they had clambered into the helicopter and the two squads of fully armed Marines that had been detailed to accompany they had followed suit, their weapons held carefully. But it was clear they were expecting trouble. All of the weapons were loaded. The flight crew, the squad leader and both passengers wore flight helmets. None of the Marines had taken off their helmets. All looked ready to fight.

_Lynn?_ Galina asked in her mind. _Are you okay?_ The doctor looked up and gave a wan smile.

_Not really _Lynn admitted. _It hurts. Despite everything, part of me had hoped I could find a cure, go home. _She slumped a bit._ This is...for the best..._She said sadly. _But it hurts._

_I know. _Galina said softly. _But you are not alone, Lynn. And you never will be. _The younger woman promised. Lynn reached out and patted Galina's leg.

_Thank you._ Lynn said with gratitude and then spoke aloud. "Lieutenant? ETA?"

"About 15 minutes to where the guards have been set, Ma'am." The Marine LT whose name badge read Smithers said in a deep Southern accent. "Can you say what is going on?" Galina and Lynn looked at one another and the LT shrugged. "If not, no problem. We Marines work better in the dark anyway!" A shout of 'U-rah!' came from the Marines around them.

"They didn't say we couldn't..." Lynn said slowly. "Galina?" Galina nodded and spoke evenly.

"Lieutenant Smithers." Galina said slowly. "What we have here is either a rogue faction from an Intelligence agency or an unknown third party." The LT stared at her and Galina nodded. "We need to keep it quiet, but keeping warriors in the dark about mission parameters when we don't _have_ to is _stupid_."

"Wish more brass thought that way." The Marine said darkly. "So... The base alert...?"

"A person of interest and a sample of infectious biohazard material vanished from the base. And the last thing we need right now is a panic." Galina said with a nod. Smithers stiffened and then nodded slowly. "We do not know if they are connected, but my bet is 'yes'."

"Marine's don't talk. _My_ Marines anyway." He said with a smile. "So why are we haring off to the mountains instead of hunting?" Smithers asked after a moment. "Or can you say?"

"We left some gear in a cave there." Lynn said quietly. "We need to pick it up and bring it back. Not much, but it could be vital."

"You gonna need help?" Smithers asked after a moment.

"I don't think so." Lynn said with a sigh. "And... I don't know if you or any of your people will be able to get past the door." The LT stared at her and she shrugged. "It's complicated."

"_Please_ don't try to get her to explain, lieutenant." Galina pleaded with the man, half humorous. "I asked a while back about it while I was recuperating from an injury and my head ached for a day or so."

"You did ask." Lynn said with a smile. "And it is all theory anyway. None of us really have a clue _how_ it works, but it _does_ work." Galina shook herself dramatically and Lynn smiled wider. "You _did_ ask."

"I did and I won't ever again." Galina said clearly enough to be heard by everyone. The marines all looked at her as she grimaced. "Lynn's idea of a 'short and concise explanation' took _three_ _hours_." All of the Marines looked at each other and then pointedly looked away from Lynn who was smiling innocently.

"Don't tell stories about me, Galina." Lynn said mildly. "I had a camera while you were incapacitated." Galina looked at her and Lynn nodded. "Interesting choice of tattoo..."

"Lynn." Galina's tone was severe, but her eyes were twinkling. "Do you have _any_ idea at all what Yargo would have done to me if I had gone and gotten a tattoo?"

"Well..." Lynn sighed and nodded. "Yeah." She said with a laugh. "I do."

"You two are crazy." Lieutenant Smithers said with a smile.

"It's laugh or scream, Lieutenant." Galina said with a shrug. "I prefer to laugh. Fewer odd looks." Lynn looked at her and Galina growled."Don't"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Lynn said with a grin and then she paused as the helicopter altered course. "Time?"

"Time." The LT agreed. Then he paused and nodded. "Guard force says the LZ is cold, but we are going to deploy as if it's hot, just in case."

"What is cold and hot?" Galina asked after a moment. "In 'Marine'?" She clarified.

"A hot Landing Zone is one where enemies are likely to be shooting at you." Smithers explained with a nod. "A cold LZ is a presumably safe one, but..." He shrugged. "Better safe than sorry and it will be good training. Get them ready to deploy, sergeant." The LT barked. "We are going to be busy for a few minutes." He said to Lynn.

"We will stay out of your way, but LT..." Lynn said carefully. "If we _do_ tell you to run...do it. There are things bullets cannot fight." The closest Marines stared at her and she swallowed. "I have seen enough pointless death. You Marines are good, but there are limits. Please..." She half begged.

"You heard the lady." Smithers said, his face set. "Sergeant."

"Yes, sir. You all heard the specialist!" The sergeant snapped. "Game faces on, people! Ten minutes to landing. I want a ready check and yes that means you too, Connors. Get your head out of the clouds and check your weapon! Jackson! Get rid of that gum! Now! Miller..."

Galina tuned out the sergeant's ranting. Lynn leaned back as the Marines around her started moving. Checking weapons, checking gear and basically getting ready as modern assault troops. Galina and Lynn were careful not to interfere. This was not their world. Then she stiffened as Smithers cursed softly.

"I just got word from the sergeant posted at the guard site." Smithers said quietly as he leaned close to the pair of women. "We have a complication."

"Do I want to know?" Lynn asked, her face worried.

"Somehow..." Smithers' face was angry now. "The press have found out that there is something going on and are nosing about." Galina cursed quietly in Russian and Smithers' nodded. "We are going to tell them it is an unscheduled exercise. Training. We do that."

"With two obvious civilians in tow?" Lynn asked, dubious. "Um... I don't think that is going to fly, Lieutenant."

"Me neither." Smithers said with a sigh. "I don't suppose you two can turn invisible?" He asked a bit facetiously, only to pause as Lynn and Galina looked at each other. "Ah..."

"I don't _think_ we can." Lynn said slowly. "Hayden can sometimes, but it is limited." Smithers' gulped and Lynn nodded. "We have some...extra skills and abilities, but we do not know the extent of them, Lieutenant Smithers."

"You are like one of the X-men who is learning how to use their powers?" A young voice asked. A pimple face Marine was looking at them.

"Sort of." Lynn said with a shrug. "But this isn't a comic book or movie by Marvel. I can't fly or shoot laser bolts out of my eyes and neither can Galina here." The young Marine looked disappointed but Lynn just sighed. "Trust me, it isn't a lot of fun."

"I think I am glad." The Marine said as he checked his equipment by touch. "Reading about someone like Wolverine is okay. Actually sharing _space_ with someone like him? Not so much."

"Agreed. I always assumed his body odor was less than pleasant but no one dared say anything. I mean... Wolverine and all." Galina said with a smile. "Now if only we had Professor X and Cerebro to scan for what we are looking for, this would be much easier." But the sergeant had seen the Marine talking.

"Carter!" The sergeant snapped. "Talk about comic books on your _own_ time! You are on _Marine Corps'_ time now! Check your gear. Now!" The Marine smiled at Galina and focused on his tasks.

"Leave the Marines to do what they need to do, Galina." Lynn said with a frown as she sat back on the hard metal seat. Military helicopters had few frills. "We can't talk to the press."

"Actually, we can." Galina said after a moment. Lynn stared at her and Galina smiled, a wolf's head. "We can't tell them the truth, but if we avoid them..." She smiled again, this time even more feral. "What do you think is the worst thing for a journalist?"

"I don't know." Lynn said softly. "I haven't dealt with many. The few I have...irritated me."

"I bet." Galina said with a thoughtful look. "Hmm... Lieutenant? Have you got a moment?" The LT turned to her and nodded. "Can I borrow your accent?"

"Huh?" Smithers asked with a confused look. Galina smiled and when she spoke next it was in a deep Southern drawl.

"Press act like any animal, or so my Uncle used to tell me." All of the Marines turned to stare at her as she continued, sounding like a Southern Belle. "I was always a good mimic and Yargo taught me a lot about languages."

"You are _good_. You sound just like my sister." Smithers said with a grin. "But what is the point?"

"Point is, press look for discrepancies. Two women not in uniform? One who speaks in a Russian accent and one English? Oh yeah." Galina said, still talking in a drawl. "Press would react. Yargo weren't no spy, he was counter-intelligence."

"Looking for spies." Smithers said, thoughtful. "Go on."

"If a pair of civilians get out of a military helicopter surrounded by two squads of Marines, that be an immediate red flag to any press type. Story here. Right?" Galina asked and the Marine nodded. "So... If we don't go out the back... Say, you all tramp out the main hatch and Lynn and I go out the side."

"Could work." Smithers said a bit dubiously. Then he smiled. "Especially if I go with the Marines to set a perimeter, and refuse to talk to the press. They hate that."

"They will likely follow you." Galina agreed. "Pestering you to try and get a response, but you of course have orders not to talk to them."

"But I don't." Smithers said, his face working. He paused as Lynn chuckled. "Ma'am?"

"I wasn't paying much attention when the base commander ushered us aboard, Lieutenant Smithers, but didn't he say I was in charge?" She asked. Smithers stared at her and she smiled as Galina had. Feral. "I am not going to step on any toes and I don't have a _clue_ about Marine work. I am not in your chain of command, but I can advise, right?"

"Yes." The LT said after a moment. Then he smiled. "Any advice, ma'am?"

"Is there a Standard Operating Procedure for recovery of potentially dangerous materials from an unstable location?" Lynn asked softly. The LT stared at her and then nodded slowly. "Now what we are after is not really dangerous. But _they_ don't know that."

"There is. We have to set a perimeter, keep everyone but our specialists away and..." He grinned. "We cannot talk to the press unless it is cleared by higher authority." He shook his head. "Devious, but workable. How did you know about that?"

"I was with the World Health Organization." Lynn said with a sigh. "Almost every armed force I dealt with had something like that. Galina..." Lynn said with a shake of her head. "That leaves you and me as anomalies."

"Well..." Galina thought hard. "The Marines can't shoot the press." She ignored the mutters of 'Pity' and 'I wish' that went around the cabin. "We are not in uniform so..."

"No, you are not in uniform." Smithers agreed. "What other languages do you speak, Ma'am?"

"Russian, English, German, French and some Japanese." Galina said, then paused as Smithers stared at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Smithers looked like he had swallowed a bug. "You sound like my sister, but she only speak two languages. English and _bad_ English." A laugh circled the cabin. "We are landing on the road. Where is this cave?"

"Uh... I was busy running..." Galina paused and looked at Lynn who nodded.

"It's about a hundred meters from the closest road which I assume will be our landing spot." Lynn said slowly. "Terrain is light forest. I can point the way once we are down."

"Okay..." Smithers said slowly. "They will likely see you if you try to exit by yourselves. So... This should work. We are going to borrow those flight helmets, keep the visors down to conceal your faces. My squads will form up and escort you to this cave. We will wait until you have gotten what you need, then we will escort you back. If the press block our way, we move them. Gently." He admonished as a murmur of approval went around the cabin. He nodded to Lynn. "If you could let Miss Galina here do the talking if it comes to it, that would probably be best."

"I understand." Lynn said with a smile. "No one else speaks proper English anymore, but I will make do." She said with a smirk. "What will she say?"

"I will say 'I am not allowed talk about it.'" Galina said with a smile and the LT nodded approvingly. "Which is the truth, but... Not quite the way they will presume."

"Who cares what they assume?" Lieutenant Smithers said sardonically. "And... now..." He said with a nod as the helicopter shuddered and then slid a bit, finally coming to a stop. "Gotta love the old Chinooks. Huge and heavy carrying, but handles like a truck. Go!" He commanded and the first Marines were in motion before the ramp had even touched the ground. He waited until both squads had moved and then nodded tot the women. "Ladies." He disconnected the wires attached to their helmets as the sound of the engines faded, but did not go away. They would be leaving again shortly if all went well.

_We can talk this way, Lynn._ Galina said as she followed the LT out of the helicopter. The road was...wider than she remembered. Flashing lights in the distance had her pausing, but the LT just smiled.

"We asked the local police to keep the road closed for a bit." Lieutenant Smithers said with a nod as they walked. "Which way?" Lynn pulled out a compass and a small map and he smiled a bit as she pretended to look at them. She nodded towards the woods. "Sergeant! Secure the perimeter!" He called and the sergeant started barking orders.

It took almost as little time to get back to the cave as it had taken Galina to flee it. The few questions that were called to them by the intent looking man and woman in rumpled clothes who stood nearby were dutifully ignored. The sergeant at the guard post saluted the LT.

"Sir. Nothing to report except a couple of braying fools." He looked curiously at the pair of women but did not ask questions. Smart man.

"Right." Smithers agreed. "Have you got enough people?" He asked the sergeant who nodded. "What about reliefs?" He nodded to Galina and Lynn and both entered the cave.

The door was right where Galina remembered it. But the room beyond was a mess when they stepped through. Galina stared about, shocked, but Lynn just chuckled.

"This is how we left it." Lynn said, moving to the table and starting to sort through stuff. "We were in a hurry. Hayden wasn't fully healed, but he wasn't _about_ to leave you to whoever had you." Galina shook her head silently.

The food and other things she had bought in Blacksburg lay in a pile next to a set of weapons that looked like they had been tossed onto the floor. Galina found her Tekna pistol and smiled as she pocketed it.

"Here" Lynn handed Galina something long and cylindrical and Galina stared as she realized it was a silencer! "I hope we don't need these..." She said, pocketing a small pistol of her own, one Galina did not recognize.

She swallowed heavily and pocketed that as well. Then she pulled out a pair of backpacks from a pile of stuff and started loafing energy bars and water into them. The two women worked in silence, Lynn selecting things and Galina putting them into the backpacks. Very quickly, both were full. Galina shrugged into one and held out the other so Lynn could get into it.

"Will we come back?" Galina asked as she toed an empty wrapper into a pile of refuse.

"Yes." Lynn said with a smile. "Hayden seems to think we can expand this inter-dimensional pocket, make a huge facility that cannot be accessed except by us."

"A good hideaway." Galena said with a nod. "But let's worry about the future when we are sure there will _be_ one. Let's go." She and Lynn left, not noticing a hazy form that appeared in one corner of the room. It wasn't human, but the posture was...wistful? Then it was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**To the Hunt**

Galina followed the private who had been detailed to lead her along the streets of Marine Corps Base Quantico with Lynn at her side, still bemused by all this. The Marines were quick, efficient and all in all, fairly good people, for Marines. There had been course jokes of course, but she took those in stride. These were not students or legal professionals, or even intelligence officers. These were warriors. They had a hard job and they did it well. They had actually seemed fairly well adjusted for people whose _job_ was to get shot at. They had been glad for a 'milk run' mission, whatever that meant. She had actually talked comic books with the Marine named Carter on the ride back and few of the other Marines had flirted with her. With _her!_ She wasn't human anymore and they had flirted with her! The ride back had gone quickly and then they had been given an escort and sent off, the squads who had escorted them returning to whatever it was Marines did when the base was on alert.

_Problem, Galina?_ Lynn's mind voice was clear but very sad still.

_I don't know._ Galina replied slowly. _I never... Lynn...?_ She said, hesitant. _They were flirting, it's what young men __**do**__... But..._ She bit her lip as she trailed off. _I didn't know how to respond._

_Galina. _ Lynn smiled at her but kept their conversation silent. _You are not infectious now. If you want to, you can._ Galina stumbled a bit, but when her guide looked at her, she shook her head and followed.

_I... well..._ Galina felt her face heat and was glad the Marine guide wasn't looking at her now. _I never..._

_I know._ Lynn said gently. _I checked while you slept the first time after I got the bullet out just after we met._ Galina did not react externally, but internally, she was fuming. _Galina, we didn't know you._ Lynn said, sadness peeking out again. _I apologize, but I had to be ready to put a catheter in if you didn't wake up. And we had to check for common diseases. Those are way too common. I am sorry. _She said, her mental tone abject. _I didn't even tell Hayden._

_I... I guess that is okay. _Galina said, forcing herself to relax. _You are a doctor, but you and the Marine doctors here... You all have been kind._

_The Marines were __**ordered**__ to be gentle. _Lynn said softly. _Remember that. They don't have to be._

_I will._ Galina said with a fraction of a nod. Then she spoke aloud. "Where are we going?" She asked the Marine.

"Security HQ is where your friends are." The Marine whose name tag read 'Caruthers' said with a nod. "About two hundred more meters."

"Big base." Galina said with a nod in reply. The Marine grunted in reply and Galina desisted.

They walked in silence, but Galina's mind was whirling. She was still fairly young and was a healthy female. She had the same feelings and...other things that female humans did. But she felt her lack of experience keenly. Lynn smiled at her, but did not comment as they walked. Finally they reached a building marked 'Security' and their guide took them to an entrance with two armed Marines standing guard.

"These are the two who are expected, Corporal." The Marine who had been guiding them calmly. "Delivered as ordered."

"About time." One of the guard said, resuming his post. "Go on in." He said to Lynn and Galina. But be warned, the Colonel is...a bit upset." The other guard and their guide all winced.

"I bet." Lynn said with a wince. "With cause."

"Let's get this done." Galina said quietly, not wanting to stress obviously upset Marines any further than they had been.

"You have been vouched for." The Marine guard said with a shake of his head. "You will have to empty the bags and declare any weapons."

"Here or inside?" Lynn asked calmly. "We are both carrying pistols." Both guards stiffened and Galina nodded.

"Any explosives? Chemical agents?" The guard asked, his hand moving as if to unsling his rifle and then thinking better of it. Lynn shook her head. "Declare them at the scanners."

"Right." Lynn said quietly as she and Galina moved to step into the building. "Thank you for the guidance, private. We would have found our way...eventually. But we don't want the Colonel angrier than he already is, do we?"

"No, Ma'am." The Private agreed fervently. "For what it is worth, ladies... Good luck."

"Thanks." Lynn replied as she opened the door and Galina stepped in following her. Four Marines stood by a set of scanners, none with rifles, but all on alert. Lynn grimaced and then stepped closer to the scanners. "Is that a metal detector?" She asked cautiously.

"It is." One of the Marines said with a nod. "But we have been briefed. We will need to search the bags and you." He waved the pair of women to the side of the machines. "Any weapons?"

"Pistols." Lynn replied, drawing her small pistol out, clearing it and setting it on a table that he indicated. Galina followed suit carefully. She was aware of scrutiny from elsewhere, but did not look. Lynn paused. "We also have silencers."

"Good thing we are not civilian cops." The Marine said with a nod. "They would likely arrest you just for having those. We need to search the bags. Any explosives or chemicals?"

"No explosives." Lynn said calmly, setting her bag down and opening it. "Some chemicals, but its medical gear. Some odd things that Hayden asked me for, tracking and hunting gear mostly. Some computer records on flash drives." She paused. "Those are encrypted."

"I see." The Marine said slowly. "You have been vouched for, by the highest authority, but..." He shook his head.

"It's not paranoia if they are all out to get you." Lynn replied sadly. "But that information must _not_ get out."

.

"Understood, Ma'am. It won't leave our sight." The Marine replied. "We will search the bags but leave the flash drives. We have a pair of female marines to check you." He waved to the side and a door opened.

Galina and Lynn nodded and stepped through. Inside, two female Marines stood ready. Galina did not move as one of the Marines did a quick professional pat down search of her. The search found the silencer, but nothing else except a pair of energy bars since Galina really didn't have much. The Marine raised an eyebrow as she examined at the silencer, but did not comment. The Marine searching Lynn found as little.

"You are the most un-female civilian females I have ever seen." One of the Marines complained whimsically as they both stepped back. "No keys, no cell phones, no clutter, no _nothing_."

"There was a time I wouldn't go anywhere without my purse and all the stuff I couldn't live without." Lynn said with a conspiratorial smile. But then it faded. "But then I spent time in a cage. It convinced me to...lighten my loads."

"I don't know what is going on, Ma'am." The Female Marine said softly. "But whatever it is, good luck."

Lynn smiled and she and Galina stepped out of the room to find the four Marines staring at something from Lynn's backpack. They waved the pair of Tenno over. Lynn and Galina complied. The contents of the bags had been laid out professionally. Medical gear in one tidy pile, computer records in another. Odd looking devices in another. The Marines were examining one of the odd looking things.

"We are not sure _what_ this is." The Marine who looked to be in charge said dubiously, poking it with a finger. "No chemicals or explosives like you said..."

"That is Hayden's." Lynn said, a expression of distaste crossing her face. The Marine froze, his finger still outstretched. "You know what he did." Hayden had been an assassin.

"Yes, but still..." The Marine shook his head. "Do I want to know?" He asked carefully.

Lynn walked to the table, slowly picked up the device and set it on her arm, tightening a strap. Galina's eyes went wide and so did the Marines' as a pair of armatures snapped out to either side of the...miniature crossbow. Lynn held it up for the Marine's examination. He whistled in awe.

"I _don't_ want to know." The Marine said after a moment. "That is cool, but... I _really_ don't want to know." He stepped away from the table and shook his head. "All cleared. We are ordered to pass you, but..." He shook his head again.

"We like this about as much as you do, Marine. _Hayden_ doesn't like what he does, what he did." Lynn said with a sigh as she folded the crossbow and unstrapped it from her arm. She started packing the bag again. "For what it is worth, I much prefer to _talk_ than to fight."

"Good." The Marine swallowed heavily and stepped away, letting Galina come close to the table to pack her own bag. He shook himself and then focused. "An escort will be here momentarily. Please stay with your escort at all times. This is a high security facility and we are on alert."

"Understood." Lynn said, finishing up as Galina did. Both women slung their packs.

A Marine in full battle dress with rifle at the ready stepped up and nodded to them. Lynn returned the nod, nodded to the guards and started off when the armored Marine did. Galina stepped closer to Lynn as they passed other Marines who also were armed for war.

"I would say this is extreme." Galina said softly as they walked. "But I know better."

"Yeah." Lynn agreed. "Galina... This is going to get messy. Are you sure you don't want to stay out of it?"

"I am sure." Galina replied. "I never hunted, but I was studying Criminal Investigation and Yargo..." She swallowed heavily. "He... He encouraged me to think like a policewoman."

"He was a good man." Lynn said sadly. "If we ever find out what happened to him, we will do something about it." She chuckled a bit, an edge to it. "Actually _Hayden_ likely will. He and Yargo were...good friends."

"Yargo always said good things about Hayden." Galina replied with a heavy heart. She missed Yargo. "But he also said we had to focus on the 'now'."

"Don't ignore your grief, Galina." Lynn warned. "You have a right to it and it is natural. Don't fixate on it, but don't _ignore_ it either." The Marine leading them ignored them as they walked. "If you ever need to talk, Galina. I am here." She said kindly.

"Thank you." Galina said gratefully. "But for now, let's do what has to be done." The Marine led them into another room where Hayden was bent over a map. Elizabeth -in full Marine battledress- was checking a rifle that she held carefully. "Hayden?"

"Galina, Lynn." Hayden said with a faint smile as he looked up. "We have the preliminary work done. Thank you." He said to the Marine now nodded to him and left in silence. Hayden waited until the door shut behind the Marine before speaking again. "We are going over the few records of what happened in the brig." The former assassin said with a sigh. His eyes narrowed and the next bit of speak was silent, _We are under observation._

"How did the doctor get out?" Galina asked aloud and then spoke mentally as well. _Of course we are. Hayden..._ She warned. _This type of communication apparently uses EM bands. It is detectable._

_So Elizabeth said._ Hayden replied. _But detecting it is one thing. Deciphering it? That is another._

_I don't think we have much to fear. We didn't know what we were seeing when you talked to Galina and I don't think anyone will figure it out soon._ Elizabeth switched to verbal speech, her tone clinical. "Two men in suits presented IDs and official orders to the guards at the brig."

"The security cameras?" Lynn asked aloud. _Better safe than sorry._ She added silently.

"Whoever they were had state of the art jamming technology." Hayden replied with a grimace. He brought up an image on a monitor nearby and it showed a pair of blurs in a corridor walking beside the doctor who... Galina tensed and Hayden looked at her. "What?"

"He was afraid." Galina said after a moment. "Why would he be _afraid_ if his bosses sent people to get him?" They all looked at the image and indeed, the doctor's face was pale with terror.

"He didn't say anything to the MPs at the brig." Elizabeth said slowly. "But yeah, he was in that shot." She agreed. "Lets see..." She mused as she hit a series of keys on a nearby keyboard and other shots appeared. She flipped through them quickly and then sighed. "No other shots of his face. All blurred around whoever held him."

"This stinks to high heaven of the Agency." Hayden said with a grunt. "The base commander has demanded answers from Langley and the President has backed him up, so we should hear something sometime. But getting concise and truthful answers out of that place is...hard at the best of times. Now? With them on alert?" He shrugged. "We did get a line of sight on their car's license plates, but it was rented." Another screen lit up with a car showing a magnified view of the plates.

"They will change cars as quickly as possible." Galina said, her memories of talking to Yargo about intelligence and counter intelligence coming to the fore. "We do not have the manpower to track that."

"No, we don't." Hayden agreed. "The FBI has been called in to investigate." Galina and Lynn both raised eyebrows and Hayden nodded. "A witness and a sample of a biohazard have both vanished off Federal property. The Marines are good, but this is the FBI's kind of thing."

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, yes?" Galina said quietly. "Who do they report to? We will need to know who to bribe." Elizabeth, Hayden and Lynn all looked at her and she blushed hotly. "Oh, this is America, not Russia. I keep forgetting. And the bullet?"

"_That_ is a mystery." Hayden said with a sigh. "Elizabeth and I examined the vault it was in. A highly secure vault with mechanical security _and_ Marine sentries. Secured, locked and monitored at all times. Between 1123 and 1130 hours, the sample vanished from its location. The doors were not opened, the security systems were all in place. But when the case commander ordered it brought out for the President, it was gone."

"That is not possible." Lynn protested.

"It shouldn't be." Hayden agreed. "Elizabeth and I have been going over other possibilities, all _way_ out there. But the fact of the matter is, it _was_ there and now it is not."

"Visually verified?" Galina asked, her tone thoughtful. Hayden looked at her and she shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time some clerk put the wrong tag on something."

"It's verified." Hayden said with a nod. "Elizabeth and I went and looked. Getting in was a pain, but Presidential authority and a possible escaped biohazard agent were good persuaders. But..." He shook his head. "There were traces, traces that only Elizabeth could see." Galina looked at Elizabeth who nodded.

"Apparently, these eyes came with upgrades." The African America woman said with a grin. "I could tell immediately that there _had_ been something there. It was removed, case and all."

"Then that is good, right?" Lynn asked slowly. "I mean, all the biohazard cases like that that I ever dealt with had trackers."

"Yes." Elizabeth looked sheepish now. "It was deactivated when it was put into the vault." Galina cursed in Russian and Lynn snarled.

"You have _got_ to be kidding!" Lynn went pale. "The single most infectious and _dangerous_ bioagent we know of and they _didn't_ keep the tracker online?" She demanded. "Idiots!"

"They were following procedure." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "It's not the Marine's fault although the base commander was talking about having someone flayed. I think he was joking. I _hope_ he was joking." She said in an undertone.

"What kind of traces?" Galina asked after a moment. _Can you say aloud?_

"Hard to say." Elizabeth grimaced. _A pair of shoe prints. Small ones. Whoever it was, was tiny or a child._

_A child? _Lynn and Galina both exclaimed mentally.

_We don't know that. A person who was childlike in size does not necessarily mean a child. _Hayden cautioned them then spoke aloud. "We took pictures and left the scene to the Criminal Investigation people after pointing out the prints." Hayden said with a nod. "We think we can track the bullet. Or more accurately, _you_ can, Galina."

"Me?" Galina asked, confused.

"The virus that entered you acclimatized to you." Hayden said with a nod. "You can probably sense it if you get close enough."

"How do I get close enough?" Galina asked, dreading the answer.

"We set a trap." Hayden clarified. "With you as the bait, Galina." Galina stared at him and then started thinking hard.

"_Hayden..._" Lynn growled.

"Lynn, think..." Elizabeth said calmly. "Whoever it was, went to a great deal of trouble to get that bullet. They had to know how the Marines would respond. But if they had gone far, they would have been detected. And all vehicles entering are searched as matter of course. No children or people the size of children have entered or left the base. We think that is intentional, to let the hubbub die down and the alert fade."

"You think the sample and thief are still on the _base_?" Galina asked softly. "What do I do?"

"You and Lynn up for a walk?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Traps**

"You know...' Galina said as she puffed, exhausted. "There are times I really, really hate Hayden."

"I agree." Lynn said, panting as well. She had only been fully mobile for a couple of days, so if anything, she was worse off. "This is insane."

"Well..." Galina sighed as she looked around the small park. Aside from the two of them, it was deserted. While Marine Corps Base Quantico had families in residence, at this time of day few were out and about. Add to that the high alert status of the base and the outdoor recreation areas became ghost towns. "I haven't picked up anything. The doc has gone. We saw the car he was in go out the gate on the recording. Are we sure the sample hasn't left the base?"

"No." Lynn admitted, heaving. "But what Hayden says _does_ make sense. The best place to hide something..." She trailed off as Galina made an acknowledging motion.

"...is in plain sight." Galina agreed. "So he has had us walking _every single_ street in this blasted base for the last four hours in the hopes that I can draw some attention or pick up on the acclimatized virus that was coating the bullet." She shook herself and took a swig of water from a bottle she had thoughtfully grabbed. Lynn was doing the same. _You still there? _She asked sourly in her mind.

Trying to find Hayden visually was a lost cause, the man was a born sneak. Elizabeth was also a sneaky sort. Galina had not been surprised to find out that Elizabeth had been trained as a scout/sniper. Not in the slightest.

_Buck up, Galina._ Hayden said with quiet authority. _We need to find this thing._ _You and Lynn both need exercise._

_Hayden. _Elizabeth's mental voice was flat. _They are not Marines. Remember that. We may all be stronger and faster than humans, but Galina and Lynn were __**civilians**__. They will remain as they were until we can them train out of it. You and I are trained, they are __**not**__. _She admonished.

_Right. Sorry. _Hayden said quietly. _I always enjoyed this part of the hunt when I was solo. Watching others do it? Not so much._

_The stalk is the most important part. Especially against sentient prey. _Galina said primly as she and Lynn finished drinking and without a word, started off again. She pulled a small map out of a pocket and perused it for a moment. "Next section is the industrial park." She sighed. "I prefer this park." The small municipal park they were in was well maintained and nice.

_Lynn, Galina..._ Both women stiffened as Hayden's voice came again. This time it was clipped precise. _We have unconfirmed reports of an unauthorized boat on the river. The Marines are investigating._

_Should we take a look?_ Galina asked. _We are not far from the river._

_Not a lot of concealment in that area._ Elizabeth said calmly. _No line of sight on the river from my vantage. I... Eyes on. Wait one..._The other three waited and then she snorted a laugh. _Nope, not a threat. A group of teenagers. With alcohol from the looks of it. They are about to have a very bad day._

_Do I want to know?_ Galina asked a bit cautiously.

_Well, let's just say that the MPs have little patience for civilians joyriding through a Marine Corps facility. Or the waters near a Marine Corps facility._ Elizabeth said with another sour laugh. _And yep..._ A siren sounded near the water, making the two women jump. _Busted. _ An engine suddenly revved out on the water and both women turned to look at where a civilian powerboat was now moving fast away from the base. _Oh you idiots..._Elizabeth said with a sigh. _They called on you to stop! Do it! Don't try and... _ A distant muffled shot was heard and the both women froze as the boat's engine suddenly stopped. _And let that be a lesson._ _Ignore the MPs at your __**peril**__ during a high level alert, boys. Oh... They are really __**not**__ going to enjoy their stay in the lockup tonight. _

_Did someone just __**shoot**__ at them?_ Lynn demanded, clearly upset.

_Their course was towards the high security slips. _Elizabeth said with a sigh. _The guards there have __**no**__ sense of humor. Less when the base is on alert. A warning shot is allowed after a call to stop. If they had gotten within three hundred yards of the slips... Well... The guards there have machine guns and the orders to use them._

_The guards would have __**killed**__ them? _Lynn gasped.

_Probably not._ Elizabeth admitted. _I mean, these are just dumb kids. But terrorists have used such tactics to get close enough to sensitive facilities to strike in other places. Do something like that that in Israel and you are __**dead**__. Period._ Lynn looked like she was going to protest again but subsided when Galina glanced at her.

_Not our problem. _Galina sighed as she and Lynn started towards their next destination, a set of businesses. _Lets..._ She paused. Something... _Elizabeth, Hayden... do you see anything?_ She asked slowly. "Lynn..." She said but Lynn was looking around.

_What?_ Hayden asked, on alert.

"I hear a child crying." Galina said slowly. Lynn nodded. _Do either of you see anything?_

_I don't. _ Elizabeth replied after a moment. _Lots of concealment in that park though. Hayden?_

_Nothing from my angle._ Hayden replied, uneasy. _You want to investigate, don't you?_

_It will give us a break from walking._ Galina said as she and Lynn turned, seeking the source of the crying. _It shouldn't take that long._

_It could be a trap. _Hayden said dubiously_. I will arc around, try to get on the other side of you. Stay out of the shadows so you do not leave Elizabeth's line of sight._

_Right. _Galina took a deep breath, checked her concealed pistol and then nodded to Lynn who had done the same. "Let's find that kid."

The pair of mismatched women walked along the path, staying in the middle of it. Only a truly paranoid observer might notice that their hands stayed close to small bulges in their jackets, or that their path, while seemingly oriented towards the direction the sounds were coming from, kept them out of the shadows. They moved as a pair, each sweeping a different direction with their eyes and other senses. Then they paused as the cries grew louder and clearer.

"Momma, get up..." The boy was saying. "Momma, you gotta get up!" He repeated.

"There." Lynn said softly, indicating a small form huddled beside a larger form on the ground ahead. _Elizabeth? Looks like a child and an adult. The adult appears to be in distress._

_It's a trap. _Hayden said quickly. _It's got to be. All Marine dependants are in secured locations._

_You and I both know that doesn't always work as well as the brass would like._ Elizabeth said sourly on their private channel. _I have no line of sight. I'll call EMS._

_I have to help. _Lynn said slowly. _I am a doctor. I have to._

_Lynn! _Hayden snapped._ If it is a trap, then you and Galina are compromised. Step back, let the Marines handle it._ The boy wailed louder and Hayden groaned as Lynn took a step forward. _Lynn..._ He begged her.

"Keep me covered, Galina." Lynn said with a nod as she stepped forward. The boy, alerted by the motion, turned to her and screamed.

"_Help! My mom is hurt!_" He called to Lynn. Lynn sighed and ran towards him. "Help, please!" He begged her. Lynn reached his side and went to her knees beside the still form.

"What happened?" Lynn asked, her tone authoritative.

"I was running." The boy said, his tone abject. "She chased me. It was fun, but then she fell and hit her head! She is bleeding!"

"She is breathing." Lynn said, her tone encouraging. "We will help her. What is your name?"

"His name is Carter." The female form said softly. "We are sorry."

"For what?" Lynn asked.

It happened so fast that Galina didn't even have time to scream. The female form's hand came up to grab Lynn and the pair disappeared. Then the young boy just vanished. Galina was ducking for cover, aware of both Hayden and Elizabeth screaming Lynn's name and her own, but then the boy appeared beside her in a puff of smoke. Before she could do anything, he had hold of her arm and she was somewhere else.

The room was large and white. The feelings around it sent shivers through Galina as she recalled a similar room in the lab she had been an unwilling guest at. Lynn lay convulsing in a heap at the feet of a man in a hazmat suit. Just as Galina recognized that, something jabbed her in the back and electrical power flooded into her. It didn't stun her. It felt...good. She spun in place to see another form in a hazmat suit who had just hit her with a taser. She didn't bother to speak, she drew. She hadn't practiced much since she had left Lasria and Yargo but her body remembered the drills he had taught her. She had always been a good shot. The man barely had time to start a scream as her silenced pistol cleared the holster and then coughed twice. He fell, two holes in the faceplate of his suit. Hazmat suits were rarely armored. She spun back to the man who was standing over Lynn, a set of manacles now in his hand. She shot him twice and he fell, clutching at bloody holes in his suit. She strode to where he writhed and he stared up at her.

"No, please..." He begged her. Her face felt as cold as the metal on her chest as she shot him through the faceplate and he went still.

_Hayden! Elizabeth!_ She screamed in her mind, but there was no reply. She was blocked somehow.

She glanced around, but no one else was in evidence. A two way mirror was prominent on one wall. A security camera was looking at her and she put a shot through it out of reflex.

"Lynn..." Galina said urgently. "Lynn, can you hear me?" She asked.

"G...Galina..." Lynn stammered. "Taser..."

"I know. Didn't work on me for some reason. It was a trap." Galina said softly. "One for both of us. We have to get out of here..." She trailed off as a door she hadn't seen opened and four men in body armor entered the room. None carried firearms, instead all carried shock prods.

"How many bullets do you have?" One of them asked. Galina shook her head and fired. _Not_ at the man himself. He stared down at the hilt of his shock prod. She had blown the baton in half!

"Enough." Galina said softly, but it was a deadly sound. "You need us _alive_. I am under no such compunction. The only question is how many of you will _die_ in taking me. Lets find out, shall we?" She said, turning herself to minimize her cross section as more armored forms crowded the door, these carrying tranquilizer weapons.

"You can't win." The man who had spoken sounded shaken now, but did not move from blocking the door.

"Do I _care_?" Galina asked as she dipped her left hand down to a pocket and came up with something that had everyone in the room freezing. "The Marine Corps armory had all kinds of neat things." She said as she hefted the hand grenade. "Body armor will stop the shrapnel from a regular hand grenade, but..." She shrugged. "_Not_ this one." Indeed, white phosphorus was an awful weapon, especially in an enclosed -airtight- area.

"You throw a phosphorus grenade in here..." The man said, calming. "You will be affected as well."

"True." Galina said with a smirk as the door behind them clanged shut. From the sound, it locked. "But tell me something..." She smiled evilly. "Do you have independent air supplies? White phosphorus will burn up all the oxygen in here very quickly. I can hold my breath for a long time, and Lynn can as well. The rest of you?" She shrugged. "Bad way to die, asphyxiation. But better than a cage."

"I agree." Lynn said, fumbling a bit as she pulled something out of a pocket. _Everything _stopped again as people realized it was a detonator! She slid out of her backpack and then skidded it across the floor at the frozen men. They skittered away from it. "Oh, don't bother." Lynn said with an evil grin. "Two kilos of incendiary explosives and two Claymore mines. You won't get far enough to get out of the blast. You scum are dead." She said with a sigh. "Pity your boss is a coward. I have things I would like to say to him."

She went still as the little boy from before appeared in a puff of smoke, grabbed the backpack and disappeared. She clicked the detonator anyway and a rumble was heard. "I hope I got some of you." She said calmly as she rose and drew her pistol. "So... a kid who can teleport. Figured it was something like that that got the sample from the vault. How long has _he_ been your slave and guinea pig hmmm?"

"We don't want to hurt you." The man who had been speaking said quietly. "Please. Don't make us hurt you." He paused as Galina made a clucking nose. "Don't..."

"You lie about as well as the men in the lab I was in before." Galina said with a sigh. "Same group I bet. No, you don't want us _hurt_. What good are hurt _slaves_? Damaged _goods_? Injured _guinea pigs_?" One of the men with a tranquilizer gun took aim and Galina shot him through the goggles. He fell without a sound. That had been mostly luck, she had just been aiming at his face, but it did make all of them very cautious. "I wonder... why hasn't the kid shown up to grab the pistols or the grenade?"

"You are holding them." The boy said, appearing by one wall, his hands still and in plain sight. She nearly shot him anyway. "I don't want to hurt you." His hands were...wrong. Metal. Each had three fingers ending in vicious claws. "Mom says hurting people is wrong."

"It is." Galina said quietly, focusing on the boy. "Sometimes you don't have a choice. So... if I throw this..." She hefted the grenade again and several of the man flinched. "You will catch it and teleport out with it, yes?" The boy nodded and Galina sighed. "But if I pull the pin and hold it until it goes off, you can't, can you?"

"That will kill you." The boy said, ashen faced.

"So?" Galina demanded, seeing him flinch. "Have they started injecting you with things that burn? Things that freeze? Shooting you? Cutting bits off to see how fast they grow back?" She snapped , her voice rising. "Death is preferable! Lynn!" She held out the grenade to Lynn who pulled the pin with her free hand before stepping close to shield Galina's off side. All of the men took a step back, for all the good it would do.

"Don't do this!" The boy begged. "Don't make us hurt you!"

"What is your name?" Galina asked, her tone gentling.

"Conner." The boy said softly, staring at her. "My name is Conner."

"Well, my name is Galina Tenno. How old are you, Conner?" Galina asked sadly. "Five? Six?"

"Six." Conner said slowly, staring at the explosive device in Galina's hand. "Ma'am, you are like me and my mom. Please... don't..."

"I spent about two years in a cage, Conner." Galina said in a kindly tone. "I promised myself that I would never be caged again. Do you understand about promises?"

"I do." The boy said, tears starting to fall. "They can stop you, but it hurts... Please... don't..."

"Conner, if you can get out of here, do it." Galina said, releasing the arming spoon of the grenade.

Several things happened simultaneously. A burst of energy hit her hand. As if in slow motion, she saw her fingers fall open and the grenade fall out of it. Conner vanished, reappeared to catch the grenade and vanished again. Galina screamed in her mind as she opened fire, seeing Lynn do the same. Two of the men fell as the others rushed the pair of Tenno.

_We are not your slaves!_

She kept firing until a blow forma chock prod slammed her hand open and then she was struggling for all she was worth. She saw Lynn connect to one man who stumbled away before collapsing to his knees, blood streaming from his ruined eyes. Galina spun, grabbing a man's neck in passing and snapping it with a quick yank. But then a gentle, but irresistible force slammed into her mind, freezing every muscle.

_Be still child. _The voice was neither male nor female. It was... _Now is not the time._

_Get out of my head! _ Galina screamed silently as one of the shock prods flew towards her face. She had a bare moment to turn away before everything went black.


	15. Chapter 15

**Caught**

Pain

Pain was everything. Pain was everywhere. No matter how Galina tried to focus beyond it, the pain was too much and all she could do was curl into a ball and sob but even that hurt and she was screaming as she fell into blackness.

A familiar hated voice roused her from her stupor. It sounded nearby and she focused on that, on the anger that rose within her.

"Of all the..." The doctor was furious. "How the hell can we take samples when you have beaten the subject to a pulp?"

"She wouldn't stop fighting." The man from before said, his voice low and filled with pain as well. Part of Galina prayed she had hurt him badly, the rest was just glad for the distraction. "Even unconscious, she _bit_ two of us!"

"'It', agent." The doctor corrected absently. "Not 'she'. 'She' implies it is female and human. This subject is neither." Galina felt a hand on her face and she remained still as it traced her body, the touch impersonal, clinical. "Ah... You broke it's cheek and damaged an eye. Well..." He said softly. "We shall see if the regeneration extends to normal human tissue as well as the metal parts. We can take the samples we need in the morning. The work on the other specimen will take that long." The hand was tracing her jaw now, poking sore spots and Galina tensed, then lunged. The doctor screamed as her teeth found a hold and clamped down, biting clear through the glove it wore into the skin underneath and holding on for dear life. "_Get it off!"_ He screamed. "_Get it off!_"

A finger found a nerve cluster under Galina's jaw and poked it hard, but the pain was miniscule compared to her hate. She snarled and clenched her teeth tighter, rending and tearing. A blow to the side of her head had her reeling. But only for a moment as something went 'crack' and her face was suddenly on fire.

"You idiot!" The doctor was alternating between cursing and crying. "Why did you break it's _jaw_?"

"Because we couldn't get your hand out any other way." The agent snapped right back. "Better get that tended and pray the Marines were telling the truth about her not being infectious anymore." The doc gasped and the agent laughed evilly. "Forgot about that, huh?"

"I want this thing _restrained_." The doctor snapped. "_Completely_ restrained. I will be back to take samples in a few minutes and I don't want it able to squirm."

"Doc..." The agent was obviously losing patience. "Shut up. Get out and get that hand tended." A door hissed and the agent sighed. A hand touched Galina's arm and the agent cursed as Galina snarled and snapped. "Damn him..."The agent said sadly. "_He_ is the monster, not you. You have the right to your anger. But... I have my orders. We will be as gentle as we can."

What came next was pain piled on pain. Galina felt her limbs straightened, each one a now font of agony. She felt cold things cutting her clothes off. She was screaming, pleading, trying to fight as strong hands held her down and other hands wrapped things around her. Finally it ended and she sobbed in relief as the pain ebbed. Then her jaw exploded and she screamed again as something forced it's way into her mouth and something else wrapped around her head, holding it in place despite her attempts to force it out. Finally, she was strapped down onto something firm and all she could do was sob.

"All right." The agent said with a groan. "Everyone out. We are sealing the room. Hopefully, the doc will let her heal a bit before he abuses her again. But..."

Whatever else he was saying was lost in the slam of a door and the click of a lock. Galina was left to her pain and fear, but suddenly, she wasn't alone.

"No..." Conner was crying. Galina went still as a small hand touched her, patting her, trying to soothe. "Miss Galina... No." He pleaded as he tried to undo some of the straps. "Mom...?" He begged.

"Conner, get water and a rag." A female voice said sadly. "I will do what I can. But I don't have a lot of power." A barely audible puff signaled Conner's leaving. "Damn them." The woman said sadly. "Oh Galina, I am sorry. If I had a choice, I would take it, but they have Conner. I can't leave him. Not... not now. I am all he has." A larger hand was tracing her brow, soothing, comforting and Galina slowly relaxed. "I know it hurts and I will do what I can." The sound of a door had her gasping.

"Mary." The male agent's voice was flat.

"I am _not_ leaving her to lie in blood and filth, Agent Sims. How many bones did you scum break?" The woman snapped. "Go ahead, hurt me _too_. _Kill_ me and Conner is _gone_, you know this!"

"I was coming to do the same thing." Sims said heavily. A clang sounded nearby. A bucket? "We can't let her loose, Mary. But... I can keep people away for a bit. Do what you can."

"Get. Out." The woman that he called Mary said with dreadful force. The door closed again and Mary sighed. "Damn it, I just want an end... Why won't they let me die...?" She said in an undertone as something went squish nearby and then Galina tensed as something cold and wet rubbed her scalp. A gentle hand went under her head and the other was cleaning her. _I know you can hear me._ Galina heard the woman's voice in her head.

_I have nothing to say to my captors._ Galina put every ouch of her rage and hate into her mental voice and the hands that held her jerked but then continued.

_Good. Don't talk, you... you will need your energy._ Mary said sadly. _I... I need to explain... My name is Mary, but you probably guessed that. Conner is my son._

_Go away._ Galina snapped, growling as best she could.

_I can't._ Mary said sadly. _I have a bomb implanted in my chest. If I try to flee... They will detonate it. Anywhere on Earth I go, they can get the signal to. I am tempted to do it anyway. All the horrible things they have made me and Conner do. I am sorry..._ She pleaded as her hands kept scrubbing gently, carefully avoiding sore spots and washing the rest. Galina felt herself relaxing despite her anger.

_Where am I?_ Galina demanded.

_I don't know. An underground research facility._ Mary admitted. _I was drugged when they brought me in and I haven't been out except by teleport._

_But if you can teleport... _Galina said nastily. _Then teleport away from here._

_Conner and I share the ability and it's limits. I can only go somewhere I have been or can see. But... _Mary gave a mental sigh and continued. _If I can see it, there is apparently no limit on distance except power. He has more than I do, but then again, he is younger._

"Mom?" Conner's voice was scared as the sound of his teleport was heard again. "Are you okay? Has she hurt you?" He pleaded.

"Not physically. She is very angry, Conner." Mary said sadly. "And she has a right to it. We tricked her, we trapped her and now she is stuck in this mess with us."

"I am sorry, Mom." Conner said, his tone abject. "I can't leave you."

"I know." Mary said, still washing Galina's body carefully. "Conner, I need you to go get the blue vial." The boy gasped. "Please Conner." She begged.

"Mom, you can't do that!" Conner protested. "You are too weak!"

"And if that evil scum takes the samples he plans with her in this state, it will kill her." Mary said with a scowl in her voice. "Please, Conner. The blue vial." A puff heralded the boy leaving again.

_What are you going to do?_ Galina demanded.

_I am going to save your life and maybe ours as well._ Mary replied calmly. _What I will do... It's...similar to what happened to me, a long time ago._

_Who are you? _Galina asked, suddenly afraid.

_Have no fear, Galina Tenno._ Mary said sadly. _I will not harm you and it should not hurt. I... I have done awful things, when I worked for the CIA and after, but... I will no longer._

_The CIA! _Galina snapped. _The CIA destroyed Lasria! Twice!_

_I know._ Mary said sadly._ I saw. I was there in 1987, to observe and report._

_You... _Galina felt faint. _You were infected...? In the __**first**__ plague..._

_I was. _Mary replied as her hands continued to gently clean. _Just a scratch, but... It was enough. But I didn't change all the way. No idea why. I escaped to the countryside but was caught on the way out. I was incarcerated by the Soviets and eventually released in 2003. The CIA wrote me off. The Russians never realized I was CIA __**or**__ Infected. _

_What? How could they __**not**__ know?_ Galina demanded.

_My changes are internal, under the skin._ Mary replied. _I am a chameleon. I always was, but it helped that my family had emigrated from Lasria to the US in 1939. So as far as the Soviets knew, I was a refugee trying to flee the quarantine. _

_They... The Russians repopulated the demolished areas..._ _My family was sent..._ Galina said, her mental voice faint. _Then Mezner..._ She whimpered a bit as Mary cleaned a sore spot.

_Easy..._ Mary said, her mental voice soothing. _I want to help._ _I think Sims was going to try the same thing. Try to win your sympathy._

_Like you? _Galina asked, suspicion rearing.

_Feel my mind, Galina. Feel if I am lying to you. _Mary said sadly. _You are in no danger from me and I will prove it. You can do it. You are far more powerful than I ever was._

Galina felt herself drawn in some way to the other woman, feeling memories that were not her own. Seeing a childhood, education, recruitment by the CIA just out of college, training. Then... Lasria. Pain, horror and fear. Then unrelenting cold and boredom punctuated by moments of terror in the gulag. Then the wonder of freedom, only to be caught by the CIA when she tried to return to the US. The endless rounds of interrogations and then the... Galina gasped as she saw the labs, the tests, the...

Galina found herself crying as she saw the woman impregnated against her will, forced to carry a child to term in a cell. Giving birth in a lab! The rage, pain and fear as her baby boy was torn from her, but then... the wonder when he came _back_ in a puff of smoke. The stubborn refusal to help the CIA in any way. The doctor implanting her with a bomb. More tests on her and Conner. Trying teach the boy the difference between right and wrong. Then... Seeing Galina and Lynn in the park and trapping them. There was no way that Mary was faking all of this.

_I am sorry._ Galina said slowly. _As bad as what happened to me was..._

_They are trying to duplicate it. _Mary said softly. _I am sterile due to the tests. You are not._

**_That_**_ is why they want me?_ Galina said, shaken to her core. _To bear for them?_

_You and the other both. To bear carriers of the virus._ Mary agreed. _They must be stopped. But I can't... between the drugs, the surgeries and the other things, I barely managed to get to that park and back. And when I did, it knocked me out. I was supposed to walk up to you and ask directions until I could get close enough to touch, but I fell down and couldn't move. _

_Best laid plans..._ Galina said, humor surfacing. _So... What will you do?_

_Best laid plans of madmen and murderers. _Mary agreed. _I signed up to protect the United States, not this...this horror. If it gets out.. and it will..._

_The end of the world. What will you do?_ Galina repeated slowly.

_I am going to re-infect you with a modified version of the Technocyte virus._ Mary said calmly. Galina stiffened in instant rebellion. _But this time, you will know what is happening and why. You can direct it. Or... he has promised you can and he has never lied to me that I know of._

_You are going to make me even more of a monster?_ Galina snapped. _And what 'he'?_

_No._ Mary replied. _The choice to be a monster or not will be yours. And... I shouldn't have said. I was..._ She sighed. _I can't say. He is a friend, my only friend._

_This is not inspiring trust. _Galina said with a snarl.

_I know, I just... _Mary broke off as another voice sounded, apparently to both of them.

_Thank you for your protection, Mary._ The odd voice that had frozen Galina in the act of resisting the goons who had swarmed her sounded in her mind again. _But Galina Tenno deserves answers. My name is Auronal, Galina Tenno._

_You kept me from detonating the grenade! _Galina snapped._ You let them take me!_

_You are far more important than you know, Galina Tenno._ The voice -Auronal- said calmly. _Your death there and then would have created aberrances, anomalies that would have grown. You are needed._

_You let them take Lynn!_ Galina snarled. _What are they doing to Lynn?_

_Your friend is resisting the tranquilizers that they have given her._ Mary said, her tone heavy. _They are going to make sure she cannot resist._

_How? _Galina demanded. _Lynn is smart and tough, she will detoxify anything they give her._

_Only if she is capable of cogent thought._ Mary said, swallowing heavily.

_Cogent..._ Galina felt her bowels turn to water and she felt wetness that Mary was quick to clean up. _No...Not lobotomy! Not even __**they**__ can be that cruel!_

_We are doing what we can. Galina Tenno _ Auronal said sadly. _We fear it will not be enough._

_I will kill them all. _Galina said slowly. _And if by some miracle they survive my wrath, Hayden will find them._

_He will come, eventually. _Auronal said sadly. _Possibly in time to save you. But they are putting her under now._

_Can you talk to her like this? _Galina demanded.

_I do not know her._ Auronal said sadly, but paused as Galina screamed out in her mind.

_LYNN!_ Something shattered around Galina and she saw. In her mind's eyes, she saw everything. She saw the base she was in, every corridor, every room, every being. She saw an operating table with figures in green around it, a still form with metal legs laid out on it. Lynn's blonde hair had been shaved off and her skull was covered in odd markings. _Wake up! _Galina screamed and Lynn jerked on the table.

One of the green garbed forms -one with a bandaged hand- cursed and ordered something that Galina could not catch. Two others moved to the gear nearby.

_Galina?_ Lynn's mental voice was slurred. _Wha-?_

_Lynn, stay awake! They are going to lobotomize you! Can you help her? _Galina begged Auronal. _Please?_

_With your link to her, we can. _Auronal said gently. _Come Lynn Tenno. It will be all right._

Galina felt something reach out through her to Lynn. It touched the healer and she relaxed into sleep again, but... Something flowed back through Galina. Something that caressed her gently as it passed by her mind. She was smiling as she felt Lynn's gratitude. Galina jerked as the doctor whose she hated with every fiber of her being approached Lynn's shaven head, a drill whirring in hand.

_Come away._ Mary commanded. _Do not watch!_ She begged Galina. _That is not your friend, Galina Tenno. It is a shell now. They cannot hurt her now._

_If I don't remember, who will? _Galina asked sadly as the drill bit into Lynn's head.

_Please..._ Mary said softly. _You are a good person, Galina Tenno. Do not hate all of us who are trapped in this horror._

_I don't hate you or Conner._ Galina said softly. _But..._Her musings were cut off by the puff of Conner returning.

"I got it mom." Conner said, his tone abject. "I... Don't do it, Mom. Please don't leave me."

_There is no need for Mary to sacrifice herself now. Galina has woken. _ Auronal said calmly. _Come home, dear Mary. Come home, young Conner. Bring Galina and come home._

_What will you do?_ Galina asked as she felt Mary's hand stop cleaning her. The other hand was still supporting her head.

_A little stick._ Mary said gently ..._and everything will be better. You are only a monster if you lose yourself or choose to be one. You chose to be who you are. You are not a monster, Galina Tenno. May I inject you?_

_What will happen? _Galina asked, her fear fading.

_Something wondrous. _Auronal said calmly. _And something far, far overdue. Come, Galina if you so choose. But it is your choice. No one else's._

_I..._ Galina felt her resistance fade and vanished, replaced by resolve. _Do it. _Something swabbed her elbow and then, as Mary had said, a tiny stick was felt.

The world fell away.


	16. Chapter 16

**Mind of the Hive**

Galina was floating. Everything was calm, serene. But... She jerked and tried to move, but she couldn't. She tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't. She panicked a bit and tried harder. A worried voice came to her ears.

"Easy. Galina Tenno." The voice was not familiar, but it was female, gentle and kind. "You are badly hurt. We are tending your wounds." Galina was surprised when she opened her mouth and words came out.

"Where am I?" Galina asked, then paused. " Wait... My jaw..." She worked it and the female voice laughed, a trill of gentle amusement.

"Your body knows the way it should be, Galina Tenno." The female voice said. "Be at peace. You are in no danger and we will heal you."

"I can't see." Galina said, scared.

"That is...intentional." The female voice said, her tone turning heavy. "If you saw where you were, you would be afraid. You would fight. For no reason. We are not your enemies, Galina Tenno. Auronal decided to bring you here. But... Violence has no place here, Galina Tenno. We are builders, healers and nurturers, not fighters. Not murderers."

"Sick of fighting..." Galina said, feeling herself fade. "It is what I am, but..." She choked back a sob. "Wanted to be a policewoman, not a monster."

"You are not a monster, Galina Tenno." The female voice admonished her a little. "Never call yourself that. You are not human anymore, but you are not a monster." Something caressed Galina's arm gently and she relaxed a bit. "That's it." The female voice said sadly. "So many broken bones. Human forms are marvelous in adaptability but fragile." Galina felt the arm move. It was... it was as if the broken arm bones were realigning by themselves as she felt them. Nothing hurt, but it was very strange. She tried to cast out with her mind, to see with her mind, but it seemed to rebound off of something and stay close. The voice clucked. "Don't do that, Galina Tenno. You do not have the energy to spare for curiosity, Focus on healing."

"I don't know you." Galina said sharply, her fear returning.

"Ah..." The voice sighed. "Oh...Mary? Conner?" The voice turned welcoming. "Galina Tenno is awake."

"I am glad." Mary's voice was calm, serene. "I... I had forgotten how comforting it is here. So long in pain and fear. Thank you, Katishya."

"It is my pleasure." The female voice said gently. "Healing is what I do. Ooof." She grunted.

"Conner!" Mary admonished her son gently. "Let go of the healer."

"Ah, sorry..." Conner said quickly. "I apologize, Healer Katishya."

"I don't _mind _hugs, Conner. He is a good kid." Katishya said with a sigh. "But it can be distracting when I am working."

"Katishya is a Lasrian name..." Galina said slowly. "Where am I?" She asked. None of the three answered and her guts turned to ice. "Where am I?" She demanded.

"Galina Tenno, be calm." The odd female named Katishya said sternly. A wave of comfort swept over Galina and she found herself relaxing against her will. "You can and will harm yourself if you continue to stress. I will not let you. Mary, Conner... We must heal her completely."

"I know." Mary sounded like she was crying. "I had to tell her. Galina... We rescued your friend Lynn. She is... well... She is coping. She is upset. Who wouldn't be? But she is coping." Galina grunted a bit. It was all she had the spare energy for. A hand found hers and gave a squeeze, then a kiss from small lips touched her cheek. "We will be back when Katishya is done." Mary promised.

"They are good people." Katishya said sadly. "I wish... I wish I could help them in the real world." Galina jerked and Katishya made a noise of regret. "Oops." She said. "No." She admitted. "This isn't real, Galina Tenno. We are...in a mind. Inside a huge group mind. This is...all that is left of me. But I can still help people, heal them." A hand or...something traced her leg and Galina was amazed to feel the bones there realign by themselves. Again, it didn't hurt.

"I need to see you." Galina said lethargically.

"Galina Tenno, you do not _want_ to see me." Katishya said sadly. "Fear will detract from your recovery. Time moves differently in this virtual world, but we do need to..." She broke off as Galina tensed. "No, don't..." Katishya begged.

Galina lashed out with her meager energy and whatever was blocking Galina's mind fell away and her mind flowed free. She was in a cave, the formations on roof and floor were distinctive. Many, many forms moved about with purpose. She looked to where the voice had come from and was unsurprised to see something totally inhuman. In form, it was sort of humanoid. Two arms, two legs, one head. It stood on the two legs. But that was where the similarity ended. The arms had no hands. Instead, tentacles were recoiling as the form took a step back. The head was misshapen, odd growths coming from where the face would be on a human. The form was shaking as it stepped back again. Galina could see she was lying on something that pulsed as if alive, her limbs straightened and the red marks of injuries fading as she watched. The form in front of her radiated sheer terror. Galina smiled a bit forlornly and then closed down her mind.

"I apologize for the discourtesy. For scaring you." Galina said formally. "But my trust has been abused so many times, it is so hard to trust." She felt her eyes burn. "I am sorry. You are...Infected... But not mindless. Not evil. I am sorry."

"We are...memories of some of the people who were Infected." Katishya said, cautious. "Auronal could not save all of us. We are sorry, but none of your family are here."

"Probably for the best." Galina felt tears start to fall now. "I don't know if I could handle seeing them again. Mom...She took me from the city and took me to her sister. I... I escaped. They... they all died. Everyone... I..." She felt something scoop her up and hold her close and warm while she sobbed.

"It's all right, Galina Tenno." The Infected said gently, holding her while she cried out her grief. "It's all right. Shhh..." She crooned. "This is not real. I... died in Lasria. But Auronal saved part of me and I can help others like you."

"Everyone is gone. I am alone..." Galina sobbed.

"No, you are not." Katishya said gently. "Hayden and Elizabeth are searching for you as we speak. Lynn lives. They are your family now and they love you." Galina sobbed harder and Katishya sighed. "You never grieved for your family, did you?"

"Had to be strong." Galina stammered. "Had to be tough. Couldn't be weak."

"You are not weak." Katishya said with a trace of iron. "Silly, but not weak. Galina Tenno?" The healer asked and Galina made an interrogatory noise. "What Mary gave you is healing you. But now... You need to make a choice." She gave Galina another squeeze and then Galina found herself back on the yielding surface she had been lying on.

"A... A choice?" Galina asked, dazed.

"In all things, there are choices, Galina Tenno." Katishya said quietly. "Even when it seems that there are no choices available, there are, we just cannot see them. You have come to a crossroads, Galina Tenno."

"What...?" Galina paused, confused. "What choices?"

"We cannot make you human again." Katishya said sadly. "That is beyond our power. But you can choose what you do. If you choose...an end... No one will gainsay it." Sadness sounded in the odd healer's words.

"I don't want to die. I want to live." Galina said slowly. "I... I always wanted to right wrongs. Not hurt people."

"A noble dream." Katishya said softly. "But hard to achieve."

"What other choices?" Galina said with a growing sense of detachment.

"You can remain as you are." Katishya said with a sigh. "Or... If you embrace the infection, you will not die, but you will lose yourself eventually."

"I don't understand." Galina said softly. "'Lose myself'?"

"The longer we...linger..." Katishya said calmly. "The less human we feel and act. Soon, even I will be nothing but instinct. This virtual hive is filled with beings who do not remember anything of what they were, but serve the hive. I am a healer and I would heal, but I would not remember who and what I was. I dread that. I tried to find a cure, a way around it, but Auronal said there isn't one. The change is permanent. But there is yet another option. To transcend your humanity and retain the virus. It will not be easy, but you can do it."

"I see." Galina said softly. "What do you think?"

"It is not my choice." Katishya said calmly. "It is yours. Think about it. You need to sleep and rest. When you wake, you will be floating in a fluid filled pod. The fluid is oxygenated so you will be able to breathe. Whatever you choose, Galina Tenno... I am glad to have met you." Galina tensed. Something in the healer's tone...

"Wait..." Galina said slowly. "What are you going to do?"

"Save your life. Your body has healed, but your energy reserves have depleted beyond the ability of your body to recover." Katishya said gently. "The Americans have a saying that fits. 'There is no free lunch'. There is always a cost. But _this_ cost, I choose to pay for you. Farewell, Galina Tenno."

"_No!_" Galina screamed as gray seeped around her.

She felt Katishya's fear, pain and concern. The love. She felt herself being pulled into something. Warmth suffused every pore. It was gentle, kind and utterly impossible for Galina to resist as she was pulled into blue tinted darkness. As she did, the gentle mind she had been sensing...winked out.

* * *

Galina was crying silently as she woke. She knew without asking that Katishya was gone. Part of Galina had died with the gentle healer. But the rest of her was awake, aware and very, very angry. She opened her eyes to see blue. She was floating in some kind of blue fluid and shadowy forms were moving outside the...pod? It wasn't a tank. It looked...She touched the side and it was alive! It pulsed under her fingers! The fluid, as Katishya had said, was flowing into her lungs and she felt clear headed. A small figure moved into her field of view and she watched as Conner's face appeared close by.

_Miss Galina?_ The little boy's mental voice was scared. _Are you okay?_

_I am very angry, Conner. _ Galina said with a growl. _But not with you. They will pay. Those scum will pay!_

_You are scaring me. _Conner said, recoiling.

_I am sorry, Conner._ Galina said with a sigh. _You knew._

_She said I couldn't tell. _Conner's tone was abject now. _She said she made her choice. But it wasn't right!_

_No. _Galina agreed. _It wasn't right. But I am going to make whatI can of this right. Is your mom here?_

_I am here, Galina Tenno. _Mary's voice came as a larger shadow stepped up to stand beside Conner.

_Katishya said this wasn't real._ Galina said with a wince. _But I got the gist that things that happen here affect the real world. How long has it been in the real world?_

_Thirty five seconds, give or take a few. _Mary replied evenly. _Why?_

_Then they have haven't finished Lynn's lobotomy. I might have time to save her. _Galina said with a nod. _I choose to be __**me**__. But...more.._

_I see. _Mary said slowly._ For what it is worth... I think it is the right choice._

_But when I go back... _Galina sighed. _Even if my injuries are healed, I won't be able to fight my way through a base to save Lynn in time._

_Yes you will. _Auronal's voice sounded nearby. Galina was not surprised to see a large Infected shamble over to stand beside Mary who laid a hand on the Infected's shoulder. _We knew this day was coming, but not when. Galina Tenno, we will aid you. All we ask in return is that you to aid and protect Mary and Conner._

_I would anyway._ Galina said calmly, but rage was barely a hairsbreadth from her mind. _They are like me, victims._

_Yes they are. _Auronal said heavily. _And you all need an explanation. You know that faster than light travel is possible since Conner and Mary can teleport, yes?_

_Yes. _Galina said, forcing her rage back.

_I am not human, Galina Tenno._ Auronal said sadly. _I never was._ Galina froze. _I came to your world when humans still lived in tress. I was...an explorer. I explored your world for many years, seeing wonders and horrors. And then, I saw something I hadn't seen for a long, long time. A primitive human sacrificed herself to save her family from a natural disaster. I had...forgotten what love was. I was...intrigued. For millennia as you count time, I watched and stayed remote. Then a little girl, starving and alone, stumbled into my hideaway cave during a snowstorm. She was...exceptional. _ His voice turned tender. _Her name was Edai. She was a runaway slave. But... She became so much more._

_What did you do? _Galina asked when he paused.

_I intended it as a clinical experiment. To study her. _ Auronal said sadly_. Like what the doctor did to you._ Galina tensed, but Auronal laughed. _But I am not like him. She got under my skin and I found I loved her. I learned so much from her. _Now his voice turned sad. _In my love, I made a mistake and it killed her._

_What happened? _Galina asked.

_The virus that you know as Technocyte is not a weapon, Galina Tenno. _Auronal said heavily. _Or it was not __**intended**__ as a weapon. It has been perverted._

_Humans are good at that._ Mary interjected sourly, her arm going around Conner.

_The virus was intended to change a being into one of my people. It was a moment of great joy, or profound thanks to the Creator of All._ Auronal said sadly. _It was my people's only means of reproduction. It was intended as a gift, a blessing. I shared it with Edai and we had many years together. As it should have been. Not this... this horror._

_You want to change me into one of your people? _Galina asked dubiously. _Would that even __**work**__?_

_I could. _Auronal admitted. _But then you wouldn't be capable of violence. The ability to be violent was bred out of us millions of years before humanity evolved. And a good thing too, or when I found Edai..._ Grief sounded in his tone now.

_What happened?_ Galina pressed gently.

_We lived in peace for hundreds of years. We would move every couple of decades, just pick up and move to avoid detection._ Auronal said sadly. _I observed so much. Saw so much. We would have left eventually. But... I returned from an exploration trip to find Edai dead._ Galina, Mary and Conner all gasped as one. _A band of humans had found her and killed her, thinking her a monster. She wasn't __**capable**__ of violence! _The odd being sobbed mentally.

_I am sorry. _Galina knew the words were lame to combat the grief that poured from the alien being, but she had to try. _It is obvious you loved her very much._

_I did. _Auronal said sadly. _I buried her in that cave and... went into isolation. For dozens of centuries I slept, trying to forget. But then... I felt something. A change. I woke and found that Edia's body had been discovered by agents of one of the most monstrous organizations I have ever seen. _Galina froze and Auronal spoke softly. _Not the CIA. This was in 1938 by your calendar. Agents of that organization found a body buried in a cave that had metal skin and wasn't human. Their leader called it a sign and they studied the body until they drowned the world in flames of war._

_Oh no... _Galina groaned. _Not the Nazis..._

_They experimented. _Auronal said sadly. _But they never got it right. The CIA discovered their research after the Second World War, weaponized the virus and tested the weapon._

_Lasria. _Mary said slowly._ My god..._

_Yes. _Auronal said sadly. _What happened to you, Conner, Galina and her family and so many other people, is __**my**__ responsibility. I am not capable of violence, but..._ His tone turned feral. _You __**are.**__ Galina Tenno._

_What would you have of me? _Galina asked carefully.

_You are more than human and less, Galina Tenno._ Auronal said with a recognizable nod. _We will provide you with a tool to use to protect yourself and your new family. A biological and technological suit of armor. A frame that will be both your shield and sword. A frame for war. _

_Armor?_ Galina snorted. _I am to be a knight after all?_

_And what is a knight, Galina Tenno? _Auronal asked. _In ancient times, knights were bullies, soldiers who served a king or chieftain. No more than that._

_Yes. _Galina agreed, but felt calm slowly replace the rage that had fountained within her. _But the ideals..._ _In Europe, knights, in Japan-Samurai. In many cultures, a history of service, of duty, of honor, of sacrifice if needed. I...am... Tenno... _She mused. _I will serve. Not lead. Serve._

_So be it, Tenno. _Auronal said kindly. _The suit of armor you will wear will magnify your abilities exponentially. But that may overwhelm even a mind as strong as yours. You should focus your wishes. Focus on how you wish to fight._

_I am not as strong or sturdy as others. _Galina said slowly._ But I am smart, quick and clear. My mental focus has shown me the way. The mind is my weapon. _She paused. _ But I must take a new name if I am to be reborn on the wings of justice. Not vengeance, justice. _She nodded as a name came to her her studies._  
_

_And what do we call you? _Mary asked fearfully, clutching her son tight.

_You have nothing to fear from me, Mary._ Galina said gently. _The others though... They will __**know**__ fear. Fear by the name of... 'Nyx'_

_So be it. Nyx._ The world fell away again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Nyx Rising**

She woke, suddenly and completely. She was lying on the bunk that she had been placed on, but the bonds that had been holding her were gone. Replacing them was an odd material that moved like flesh under her fingers, but was obviously metal. Mary lay crumpled against the bunk, her hand still holding the hypo that she had injected the virus with. Conner lay beside his mom, both of their faces showed serenity in sleep. A quick check showed both were alive. She took a deep breath and cast out with her mind, barely noticing the barrier that had blocked her before. Now, she was much more powerful.

_Hayden Tenno, hear me._

_Galina?_ Hayden's mental voice was stunned. _What the-?_

_Galina is no more. _Nyx said calmly as she sat up, her armor as easy to move in as a suit of tailored clothes. She knew without seeing that it had an odd crest on the helmet, gold plating in various places and no face visible. _I am Nyx._

_Nyx? _Hayden asked incredulously. _Greek Goddess of __**Darkness**__?_

_There is no time to explain. I was Galina Tenno and now I am more. We need you, patriarch Tenno._ Nyx said urgently. _We need you __**now**__. Lynn is in grave danger and two non-combatants as well. I must protect my sister and these victims. I ask your permission to engage the enemy._

_We have triangulated your position. We come. _ Hayden snapped. _And..._ _Permission granted...Nyx... Save our sister._

_Thank you. _Nyx swung her legs off the bed and scooped Conner up to lay him on the bunk. Then she turned to the wall and spoke. "Agent Markeil Sims, hear me. Come to me." She intoned easily.

The door to the room opened and a form in body armor entered the room. A Skorpion machine pistol was in one hand, but it hung loose. His motions were wooden as if he were a puppet -which he was-. His eyes shone with green fire, the same green fire than danced on Nyx's palm now.

"What...?" He gasped out. "No..."

"How many on base, Markeil Sims?" Nyx demanded softly as she laid Mary beside her son and rose to her full height. "How many enemies do I face?"

"73 total. What..." Sims snapped, fighting the control. "What _are_ you?"

"I am Nyx." She replied calmly as she stepped towards him. "And **you** are _mine_. Take off your helmet." He did, one handed.

"No..." He begged as she laid a gentle hand on his bare cheek. He screamed as her power invaded his mind, seeping, searching controlling. "_No!_" He screamed again and then slumped. "What is thy bidding, Mistress Nyx?" He asked calmly.

"You will protect these two victims, Markeil Sims." Nyx said gently as she stepped away. "With your life."

"By your command, mistress Nyx." Sims said as she replaced his helmet and stepped to block the door, his machine pistol up and ready.

"Ga- I mean... Nyx?" Mary asked. Nyx turned to look at Mary who gasped and recoiled a bit. "What did you do?"

"Have no fear, Mary. I changed his mind a bit. He is loyal to me now." Nyx said gently. "You and your son are safe now. My patriarch is coming. But I need to get to Lynn before the idiots do irreparable harm to her body."

"Lynn is sleeping inside my mind." Mary said easily. "Save her body and I will return her to it." Nyx nodded to her and Mary turned to the immobile agent. "There are more of them."

"If there were a thousand of them..." Nyx said calmly as she started for the door. "...they could not keep me from my sister. Conner, stay with your mother. This is no place for you."

"Yet." The boy replied calmly. But Nyx was gone.

An alarm started to wail as Nyx made her way from the detainment cell she had been in towards the laboratories. The underground facility was not large. It _was_ filled with men who carried weapons.

"You! Freeze!" A loud voice called but Nyx did not respond. "I said _freeze_!"

"You don't want to shoot me." Nyx said mildly as she continued on her way towards the lab, ignoring the now dozen armored men with guns who were moving to surround her. "You really don't." One of the men lowered his weapon, his face wooden, but another lashed out and that man crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"We saw what you did to Sims! Your mind tricks won't work on all of us." The spokesman snapped. "Get down on the floor! Now!"

"How about this?" Nyx said, not even slowing her careful steps. "All of you who do not want to die, drop your weapons and sit against the wall. All of you who _do_ want to die, feel free to shoot at me."

"Shoot her!" The man ordered and the corridor filled with lead, but...

Nyx leaped up and sat in mid-air. A field of green energy surrounded her, catching all the bullets that were flying at her. In moments, the corridor was quiet as all the agents emptied their magazines and fumbled for reloads. But it was too late. The field expanded rapidly, energy flowing from each projectile impact point back where it had come from. Body armor barely slowed the energy bolts that slammed into each and every one of the enemies. All but one of them screamed and fell, to twitch momentarily, then fall silent. The last, one who had been shielded slightly by one of his companions, turned to flee.

"Don't run." Nyx said quietly and the man jerked to a stop. "You will go to the entrance and let my patriarch and sister into the base. They can and will blow their way in, but that will get _so_ messy. Better to have the way opened for them." She said as she passed the immobile agent who still clenched his rifle. "Go on." She said in a maternal tone. "I have business in the lab."

"By your command, Mistress Nyx." The agent said woodenly and then ran off, reloading his rifle as he ran.

_Nyx._ Auronal's worried voice sounded in her mind. _Hurry._

_I can only do so much at once._ Nyx said quietly, but she started to run easily. An agent who was carrying a Japanese _sword_ of all things stepped out of a doorway, swinging. Nyx lightly ran up and along the wall to avoid the blow. She confiscated the sword in passing and nodded to the agent who froze in place. "Good boy. Just what I wanted. Guns are so noisy. Go help Agent Sims. Protect Mary and Conner."

"By your command, Mistress Nyx." The agent said, not drawing a weapon, running off the way she had come.

_This is...wrong..._ Nyx mused sadly. _This is too powerful. I must save Lynn and then never do this again._

_If you thought it was __**right**__, I would be worried. _Auronal said calmly. _You are doing fine. Look out!_

Nyx had a moment to see a small spherical deice come flying at her, then she was diving and sliding towards the man who had thrown the grenade at her. A quick slash and then man fell, his armor -designed to stop bullets- was little protection from a slashing weapon. The grenade went off far behind her, drowning out the agent's gurgling scream as the razor sharp sword cut through his throat. He fell, clutching the spurting wound, then was still. Nyx spun to her feet and sighed at the mess she had made.

"I like this weapon, but I will need to practice with it." Nyx said as she approached a door marked 'lab.' Of course it was locked. "Now... who...?" She cast out with her mind and nodded as she took control of a mind she could sense. "Please open the door, Nurse Jonson."

The door hissed open. "What are you _doing?_" A familiar voice screamed as a gunshot sounded.

"She did my bidding." Nyx said as she entered the lab. It was as she had seen before, but now one of the green garbed beings slumped on the floor, clutching a bloody wound on her abdomen. Nyx sighed. "Nurse Gornes? Please stabilize Nurse Jonson. It was not your fault or hers."

"What...?" The other nurse's surgical mask hung askew, and she stared at Nyx, terrified. "What _are_ you?"

"I am Tenno." Nyx said quietly. She ignored the doctor who was brandishing a pistol in his un-bandaged hand. "Go on, nurse. I won't hurt you. You are not armed. You two are as much victims as Mary, Conner and Lynn were." Nyx made a 'shooing' gesture. "Go on, help your friend. And stay out of the way." She commanded.

"I didn't want to do it!" The nurse cried as she knelt beside the slumped form on the ground.

"I know." Nyx said gently. Only then did she turned to where the doctor stood, the operating table between him and Nyx. Lynn lay still on it, blood seeping from a wound on her shaven scalp. A smoking pistol was in the doctor's hand and it was aimed at Lynn's head. Nyx shook her head slowly. "All this pain and suffering. For what?"

"You and all your kind are monsters!" The doctor snapped. "You will be stopped!"

"_I_ am the monster?" Nyx asked slowly. "_I_ am not the one who kidnapped a girl who was grieving for her family, put her in a cage and experimented on her for two years. _I_ am not the one who took a _real_ doctor and tried to make _her_ a monster. _I_ am not the one who made Mary bear a son to be _played_ with for your amusement. To be used for your evil." She dampened her rising anger. It wouldn't help. "I am going to ask this just the _once_. Why?"

"You all are abominations!" The doctor screamed, brandishing his pistol. The nurse on the floor quailed, but Nyx did not react.

"So you have said." Nyx said calmly. "I wonder..." She cast her mind out and into his. She was not gentle. He jerked, tried to fight, tried to resist, but he couldn't. "Calm down, doctor." Nyx's voice was calm, but adamant. "Galina Tenno hated you more than life itself, but I am _not_ Galina Tenno anymore. I am _Nyx_, held to a higher standard than you can possibly imagine. You will die when I _wish_ it and _not_ a moment before then." She formed a bolt of psychic energy and stabbed deep into his mind.

"No..." The doctor gasped as his pistol fell from nerveless fingers. "No..." He cried, holding his head with both hands as Nyx rummaged through his mind.

"Well, well, well... What have we _here?_" Nyx asked the room as the doctor collapsed to his knees. "Your family was German! Your _grandfather_ was a scientist in Germany!"

"No!" The doctor screamed in agony as Nyx pressed deeper. "Don't..."

"What did he...?" Nyx froze and then her voice turned sad. "Oh... Oh no... I... Despite everything, I _am_ sorry. I can't imagine how it must have felt to find out your grandfather had to _kill_ your grandmother because she was infected with a bioweapon. Then to be kidnapped from Germany and used to _research_ that bioweapon by the OSS and CIA. No _wonder_ your grandfather was angry with the abominations as he called them. No wonder he infected _you_ with his hatred."

"No!" The doctor curled up on himself, his pistol forgotten at his side.

"They kept it in the _family_? Your grandfather, father and you?" Nyx asked, still rummaging. "Oh, those _evil_ bastards!" She sighed. "It's all right. Go to sleep."

"No..." The doctor sounded oddly childlike now. "No... The monsters...I can't..."

"Henry..." Nyx said gently. "It's all right. Go to sleep." He stared at her, sighed and then curled up and fell asleep on the floor. Nyx kicked his pistol away and then sighed again, turning to the nurses who were staring at her. "What?" She asked quietly.

"You are not going to kill him?" The nurse who had been shot asked, gasping as the other held a bandage to her abdomen.

"He is already dead. I got the answers I needed. I don't need to do anything more." Nyx said calmly, examining Lynn. Indeed, the doctor's breathing had slowed and then, stopped. "You reap what you sow. He sowed hatred and it bit him."

"I don't understand." The hurt nurse said, not daring to move.

"Good." Nyx said with a nod. "The first step towards achieving knowledge is to admit what you do not know. How deep did he bore in Lynn's head, Nurse Jonson?" She asked her armor clad fingers brushing her sister's cheek gently.

"We had just breached the bone when the alarms went off. He hadn't even touched the dura mater." The nurse replied. "What did you do?"

"I sowed chaos." Nyx replied quietly. "It's what I do."

"Will you kill us?" The nurse asked. "Please." She begged as Nyx knelt down near her.

"Why would I?" Nyx asked kindly. "You were _both_ kind to Mary and Conner. You did what you did because you were ordered and then you saw no way out. You were not involved in the labs that perpetrated this horror. You have never left this facility since you were ordered here."

"How do you know that?" The hurt nurse asked, gasping in pain.

"My powers are of the mind, Nurse Jonson." Nyx replied. "I see your mind as a book, your memories as pages and I read _very_ quickly." The nurse stared at her and then fainted. Nyx sighed and looked at the other woman. "Tend her please? There has been enough death today." She sighed as a new alarms sounded. "Well... enough unneeded death."

"What is happening!?" The conscious nurse cried as a rumble sounded in the distance. "What have you _done_?"

"My patriarch and sister have arrived." Nyx said with a sigh. "They are...a bit upset. Come on, chop chop. Tend your friend while I tend my sister." She turned away from the nurses and laid a hand on Lynn's skull. She smiled under her faceplate as she saw the nurse had spoken truly, the doctor hadn't had time to access Lynn's brain. _Mary?_ _Auronal?_ Nyx cast out with her mind. _Lynn's body is alive and well._

_Lay your hand on her head. _Auronal's voice sounded. Nyx did as instructed and felt a surge of power flow through her. _She will be frightened and confused._

_Will she remember you? _Nyx asked as she leaned against the table, part of her consciousness watching the unhurt nurse tend the hurt one. But most of her was focused on Lynn and the surrounding area where guards ran to and fro.

_I don't know. _Auronal admitted. _This will drain you, Nyx._

_I can handle it._ Nyx replied and then she gasped as energy flowed through her. She felt a slumbering mind start to wake as it passed through her to settle back where it belonged. _Wow... You were not kidding..._ She stammered as the sword she still held fell from her fingers to hit the floor with a clang. The conscious nurse looked at it and Nyx shook her head. "Don't. I am weak from saving my sister, but I can kill you with a thought." The nurse quailed and Nyx shook her head again. "I don't _want_ to. Okay?" Lynn groaned on the table and Nyx's voice turned gentle. "Easy, sister. You have had a busy day."

"Galina?" Lynn slurred, opening her eyes. She froze on seeing Nyx. "Ah..."

"I was Galina Tenno, Lynn Tenno." Nyx said quietly. "Now I am Nyx."

"That armor is like Hayden's, but...different." Lynn said, sitting up and then curling up as she realized she wasn't wearing anything. "Um..."

"Blanket?" Nyx asked the nurse who nodded to a closet nearby, still not moving. "As long as you do not attack me or my family, Nurse Gornes, you have nothing to fear from me." She said as she opened the closet and found a blanket that she took to Lynn, spreading it out over the doctor with a snap.

"Thank you. Nyx?" Lynn said as she hugged the blanket tight. "Nyx... Greek Goddess of _Darkness_?" She asked incredulous.

"Mother of Sleep and Death among others." Nyx said with a nod. "It seemed appropriate since my powers seem to be of the mind. Comparative Mythology class was good for something after all."

"Someone else was singing to me..." Lynn said, her eyes unfocused. "But... I didn't understand the words, just that it was comforting. I was...warm. Safe. I felt you. Your fear for me." She looked at Nyx. "You saved me."

"What are sisters for?" Nyx asked gently and then she paused as another rumble sounded. "Ah, Hayden..." She grumbled. She picked up the doctor's pistol from the floor and held it out to Lynn who took it gingerly. "I need to end this. Rest, Lynn. Recover your strength. The nurses were pawns."

"They were kind." Lynn said with a nod. "The docto-..." She trailed off as she looked and saw the still form on the floor. "I see."

"Hatred is a virulent poison, Lynn." Nyx said sadly as she picked up the sword. "I know that better than any. His hatred killed him, not my power. I wanted to take him alive to stand trial for his crimes."

"You really _aren't_ Galina, are you?" Lynn asked slowly. "She would have made it hurt for the fun of it."

"I _was_ Galina, but I grew up." Nyx said with a shrug. "Or more accurately, I was reborn." She shook her head. "The doctor's patrons will send forces soon to see what is happening. Actually... She groaned as another rumble sounded. "There they are. The reinforcements just trapped Hayden and Elizabeth between the surviving security forces and themselves."

"Do they have a _death_ wish?" Lynn asked. "_Hayden_ is bad enough. With Elizabeth, it just goes from bad to worse!"

"These came prepared for him." Nyx said with a sigh. "But not for me." She looked at the conscious nurse. "Do I need to say it?" She asked mildly.

"You will kill them all, won't you?" The woman asked, terror in her eyes.

"Not if I can help it." Nyx replied. "I don't like hurting people. I am just good at it."

"Go." Lynn said, hefting her pistol.

"Some of the agents are on our side." Nyx said mildly. "If they don't shoot at you, don't shoot them."

"Riiight..." Lynn said dubious, but Nyx had turned to go. "Okay." Lynn said quietly. "Let's see how bad your friend is hurt, shall we...?" She asked the nurse as she swung her legs off the table, clutching the blanket around herself as Nyx ran lightly from the room.


	18. Chapter 18

**Home is where the Family is**

Nyx ran unerringly towards where she felt the greatest concentration of minds. She didn't really need her powers. The sounds of gunfire and screams were quite clear. She paused at a cross corridor and then swore. A pair of men were running away from her carrying...biohazard sample cases!

"Stop!" She called and one of the men stiffened in place, dropping the sample containers he held. "Stop the other!" She commanded.

The man she was controlling pulled out his pistol and shot his companion three times before the man could get away. Nyx strode to where the man stood motionless now, his smoking pistol still in hand, aimed at the form that was falling to its knees. Then he collapsed and the sample containers that he had been fleeing with clattered to the floor as well.

"How many other samples of the virus have been taken?" Nyx demanded. "And to where?"

"These are the last." The agent replied woodenly, then gasped. "Get...out of my head!" He spun towards Nyx who cursed and swung her sword. He screamed as the razor sharp sword made a mockery of his body armor. He collapsed to his knees as well, blood fountaining from wrists that suddenly had no hands. "You...monster..." He grated out as life fled.

"Yes." Nyx said sadly. "Yes I am." With no time for finesse, she threw herself into his mind and snarled at what she found. He screamed and writhed and then lay still. _Hayden! What is your situation? _She asked, thinking hard as the man she had mindscanned gasped once more and expired.

_We are secure for the moment._ Hayden replied. _They are focusing on us. Which is both smart and dumb if what I think is happening is happening. You going to hit their rear?_

_I don't know. They have samples of the virus! _Nyx said sharply._**Original**__ samples! We can't let those leave the base!_

_Aw hell... _ Hayden said with a sigh. _We were trying to limit human casualties. Elizabeth, drop the trank gun and go loud on the M240! Tell Irina not to let anyone leave. Lethal force authorized. Frags out! _Suddenly another weapons was firing, from the sound, a machine gun. Then explosions sounded and more screams followed.

_Irina? _Nyx asked, stunned. _What is __**she**__ doing here?_

_Yeah right. Like your -well, Galina's- aunt is going to let you be snatched and not do __**anything**__?_ Hayden said with a snort. _She is our ride and air cover._

_Where __**are**__ we? _Nyx asked. _None of the minds I have touched have had location information handy. Even the doctor was brought in blindfolded._

_You know how we wanted a base in Antarctica? _Hayden said with a snarl.

_Yes, but..._ Nyx stiffened. _You are kidding._

_Nope. Welcome to the 'land __**way**__ down under' Also known as Kemp Land on the continent of Antarctica. _Hayden replied easily. _We had your rough location in minutes and were in the air in less than an hour._ _Do you know how many samples?_

_No._ Nyx admitted. _The two agents I stopped had two containers each. But I don't..._ She touched one of the containers and snarled. _This one is empty but another is full. Decoys! _Hayden cursed.

_We will have to track them down later._ Hayden said after a moment's thought. _Do any of these know who they work for?_

_No. _Nyx replied. _The doctor thought his bosses were CIA. Two agents thought they were working for SVR. One thought Mossad. Hayden... This is bigger than we thought._

_For now, let's get this battle done._ Hayden said softly. _Are you armed?_ _End this fight and we will hunt._ Nyx stiffened, but then nodded. Chasing an unknown number of desperate agents into an icy wasteland was not a good idea while a firefight raged. Speaking of... Nyx hurried forward, caution forgotten in the need to end the battle.

_Hayden? Elizabeth?_ Nyx said calmly as she strode into the open. She saw Hayden in his armor and Elizabeth in Marine Corps battle armor. Both were in heavy cover behind a set of construction machinery that was pockmarked with bullet holes and burned from explosions. Many men in armor were firing at the pair. As she watched, Hayden's Glaive whirred out, neatly decapitating two of the agents who were firing at him, then returning to him. Nyx checked her systems and she had enough power. _You might want to duck._

She saw Hayden and Elizabeth both recoil as she threw power out from her mind. This was...different. Instead of taking control of a single target's mind, she threw it wide, at every single enemy she could sense. Nyx fuddled every enemy mind in the area. Each suddenly saw the beings closest to them as the enemy and reacted accordingly. Nyx swallowed as the agents tore into each other, their weapons on full auto. Misses were virtually impossible. Body armor would protect from some hits. But not that many. In moments, it was over. Where there had been nearly thirty agents, _seven_ badly wounded survivors writhed in agony.

"Holy fuck..." Elizabeth's voice was awed as she stared around at the carnage. "Nyx, huh? Good choice of name. _Zeus_ himself was scared of her wrath."

"I think these were pawns as much as the doctor was." Nyx said uneasily. "I don't enjoy this, Elizabeth..." Nyx said sadly as the Marine stepped out of her cover, kicking the weapons from the survivors. But they were too busy bleeding to notice. "This isn't right."

"Right and wrong don't come into it, Nyx." Hayden said gently, then spun as a shot sounded. The Glaive flew, taking the arm off one of the survivors who had come to his senses and grabbed a weapon. The man fell screaming, but Nyx's attention was on Elizabeth, who was falling to her knees. None of the other survivors dared to move as Hayden spun to glare at them, his Glaive flying back to his hand.

"_Elizabeth!_" Nyx screamed as she saw blood on the woman's face. "_No!" _She ran to her sister and caught the Marine as she fell. "No..." She pleaded as Elizabeth stared at her.

"It's all right, Nyx..." Elizabeth said, a confused look on her face. "Doesn't hurt..." She crumpled and Nyx swallowed hard as she took off the Marine's helmet and saw the damage, a bloody mess on the back of Elizabeth's head. The bullet had tracked up between the collar of the body armor and the helmet.

"Don't move." Nyx begged. _Lynn! Are you mobile?_

_Not really. _Lynn replied quickly, then gasped. _Oh no, Elizabeth! Nyx! We had to lock the door! Agents outside! But they ran off._

_What do I do? _Nyx begged.

_It's all right, Nyx. _Elizabeth's mental voice was clear but weakening. _I was a Marine... I never expected to die in bed..._

_No..._ Nyx pleaded_. I can't lose you. Not now!_

"You won't." A commanding voice sounded and Hayden turned with a snarl as an inhuman form appeared nearby. Auronal looked at the armored human dispassionately. "Stand down, Hayden Tenno, there has been enough death today." Hayden stared at the grotesque form, his Glaive ready in hand, but did not throw it. For his part, Auronal did not move, his tentacles at his side and his mouth parts still.

"Auronal!" Nyx cried. "Help!"

"We will." Auronal said calmly. "Hayden Tenno, your sister is dying. We can save her, but... It will be the last time we can. Our energy is depleting." Nyx stiffened and Auronal nodded to her. "I have outlived my time and my love. But I do remember my love."

"What are you?" Hayden asked, cautious. "You are...not Infected."

"No, I am not." Auronal said quietly. "The virus that you call Technocyte came from me, but it was not as it is. It has been perverted. You must stop it, Hayden Tenno. You and your kin. All of your kin." He emphasized. "I can save Elizabeth Tenno, but then... I will be gone."

"Like Katishya?" Nyx asked, horrified. Hayden stared from her to the huge monstrosity that was not hostile, obviously conflicted.

"Yes." Auronal said gently. "It's okay, Nyx. I have outlived my time. My grief undid me for ages, but now... I can do what I was born to do. Use my experience and energy to help others." He jerked. "Elizabeth Tenno is dying. Please, Hayden Tenno, allow me to make one thing right before I pass?" He begged.

"What will you do?" Elizabeth slurred. Nyx held her tight. "Sleepy..."

"Stay awake!" Nyx snapped. "Elizabeth! Stay awake!"

"The bullet was deflected by your helmet and grazed your brain. You are bleeding inside your skull, Elizabeth Tenno." Auronal said softly, taking a slow step towards the pair of female Tenno. Hayden did not move, his glaive still ready. "The damage is done, and it cannot be repaired. But you can be remade."

"Like I was." Nyx said, awed.

"Did it hurt?" Elizabeth asked, her voice childlike.

"No." Nyx replied gently. "It didn't hurt at all. But you have to focus on what you want to do. He said it can and will overwhelm an unprepared mind. It didn't hurt." She said, pleading. "Hayden..."

"Elizabeth." Hayden lowered his Glaive but it did not vanish. "What do you choose?"

"My family needs me." Elizabeth said, her eyes slowly closing. "So tired... I... I always wanted to be a warrior. A Marine. Liked fighting, not always killing, but fighting. I was good at being a Marine."

"It is your choice." Auronal said as he slowly bent down. He didn't have knees like a human would, instead his body seemed to curl until it was sitting beside Nyx and Elizabeth.

"I choose to fight." Elizabeth said softly. "If I am good at it, I should do it so that others don't have to. Others who might not enjoy it, or be as good. I... I never had the chance to tell anyone, but I made my knife dance in my hand. Magnetism I think. But..." She gave a sigh and relaxed, her rhythms slowing.

"Elizabeth!" Nyx begged. "No...Stay awake!"

"I need to touch her, Hayden Tenno." Auronal said with a sad noise. "And then I will...join my Edai."

Instead of answering, the Glaive in Hayden's hand vanished. Auronal laid both tentacles on Elizabeth and her body started to glow. Nyx could hear the energy building in Auronal's body and feel it through Elizabeth. Elizabeth gasped and came awake.

"I..." The former Marine's eyes were crying tears of silver as she stared up at the huge misshapen form. "I can hear... the energy... The music.. So beautiful..."

Nyx watched in awe as the Marine battle armor around Elizabeth's body suddenly vanished. Her gear all disappeared as well and she was clad in shimmering light. The light slowly solidified into blue tinted bio-mechanical armor. Odd protrusions molded on each of her forearms and a spiral pattern arced up each arm from the fingers all the way up to tiny pauldrons that formed on her shoulders. The awful wound on the back of her head vanished as it if had never been and suddenly her face was obscured by an odd faceplate. It was different from Hayden's and Nyx's faceplates, this one was smooth and had an odd pattern, almost a galaxy circling on it. Gold appeared on the armor in various places as Auronal's form wavered and vanished as if it had never been. But his voice sounded as if from far away.

"What is your name?" The alien form asked kindly from nowhere.

"I will keep it simple. I can feel the magnetic fields around me and know how to manipulate them now. I am Mag." The former Marine said calmly, a bubble of wonder in her tone. "Thank you."

"You will learn to duplicate these...war frames." Auronal's voice was fading. "I wish you long lives and whatever happiness you can find. Be well, Mag, Nyx, Hayden Tenno." Then, his voice was gone. Nyx bent over her sister, crying.

"It's all right, Nyx." Mag said gently. "But we have a battle to finish." She sat up and snarled as she held out a hand. "Oh no you don't!" She held out a hand towards one of the surviving agents who had been crawling away. He gave a shrill cry as he flew through the air to land at her feet. A quick blow to his wounded side had him screaming and writhing again. "Be a good boy and someone may tend you wounds. Be bad and...well..." Mag chortled. "Please be bad. I want to try this... 'warframe' out." The agent stared at her and then slumped. She pouted.

"Ah..." Nyx had frozen in place but Hayden just sighed.

"Now I know that...being didn't change her mind at all." The armored male Tenno said. "Pity." Mag flipped him the bird and he laughed sourly. "Mag..." He said in an authoritative tone. "Don't frighten your sister." Nyx was staring at Mag, worried.

"Sorry Nyx." Mag said as she rose, puling Nyx to her feet. "I just... well. The Marine Corps shrinks said I had a lot of pent up hostility from my youth. Go figure."

"The main reason I gave her a trank gun is I wasn't _entirely_ sure which way she would shoot at first." Hayden said with a wince. Mag flipped him off again and he sighed. "Tell me I lie."

"You don't." Mag said with a snicker. "Let me see... Hmmm..." Suddenly the air was filled with metal objects of various kinds. All of the weapons that the agents had been carrying were suddenly floating near Mag. Nyx shied away from them and Mag chuckled nastily. Mag plucked a pistol out of the air and then a knife. The pistols like the Beretta M9 she held all ejected their clips which moved in a cloud to surround the blue warframe. Then there was an awful grinding sound and all the other floating hardware suddenly compacted into a mass the size of a basketball. The knife...twirled around Mag's hand, her fingers not touching it. "I think I am going to _like_ this..." Mag said with a smirk in her voice.

"What about them?" Nyx asked as she looked around at the hurt survivors who were staring at the odd trio in terror. "We can't just kill them."

"Why not?" Mag demanded. "They tried to kill us." Nyx glared at her sister and Mag sighed. "Oh, all right..." She said in a put upon tone. With a gesture, a large piece of metal came off the closest wall. It twirled in midair and then suddenly split with a horrid grinding noise. Another gesture and the wounded enemies screamed as they were pulled together and pieces of metal slammed into the floor all around them, creating a pen of razor sharp metal. "I am not responsible for their stupidity if they try and get out." Mag declared.

"Let's go get Lynn." Hayden said, quelling Nyx's immediate retort. "And you said there were non-combatants, Nyx?"

"Yes." Nyx said softly. "A former CIA operative who was infected in Lasria in 1987 and her son. Both are like us." Hayden winced and Nyx nodded. "They are the ones who trapped Lynn and myself at Quantico, but they didn't have a choice."

"You can't know that." Mag said sourly, obviously still irritated.

"Excuse me." Nyx said with an answering snap. "_Who_ are you talking to?"

"Girls!" Hayden said sharply and then sighed. "I can see this is going to be an...interesting family."

"You wouldn't have it any other way, daddy dearest." Mag said with a snort.

"Mag..." Hayden said serious. "Don't. I _can_ turn you over my knee even in that armor. Don't think I can't." Mag stared at him and then nodded slowly. "I wouldn't change you for anything, Mag. But there _are_ limits."

Nyx jumped as gunfire sounded ahead. Without a word, the three of them ran, only to find the battle ahead over. Two agents in armor were down and another dying. Two of them were the ones she had mind controlled to protect Mary and Conner, the other she didn't know. Mary and Conner stood in an alcove, obviously frightened.

"Nyx?" Mary called. "Is that you?"

"It's me, Mary." Nyx replied easily. "My patriarch and sister are here. You are safe. What happened?"

"Someone demanded I come to them or they would set off the bomb." Mary said, her face falling as she held Conner who was crying. "Conner ran off and I followed. The agents you sent to protect me followed and this one..." She looked at the still form closest to her. "He activated the bomb. Conner, go to Nyx."

"No!" Nyx cried. "How long."

"The timer was two minutes." Mary replied. "It's almost gone. For all the horror I was part of... This is my punishment. Conner, go to Nyx."

"Mom! No!" Conner snapped, hugging Mary tighter. Nyx was crying, but Mag stepped forward.

"Where is the bomb in you?" Mag asked softly. Mary touched her chest and Mag sighed. "This is going to hurt. Conner, step away from her."

"Are you going to do what I _think_ you are going to do?" Nyx asked softly. Mag nodded. "Conner." She held out her hand to Conner who stared at her. "We need your help."

"With what?" Conner asked.

"Mag is going to pull the bomb out of your mom." Nyx said gently. "It will be very messy and hurt her. But it won't kill her. But when Mag _does_ get it out, it will go off. Do with it what you did with the grenade that Galina Tenno was holding when she first arrived." Conner stared at her and then his face set. He moved to stand by Nyx who nodded to him. "Now, Mag."

Mary gave out a shrill scream and fell to her knees as Mag made a pulling motion. Mary's chest deformed horribly. Then, with a sick 'pop' a small device flew from her. Conner vanished, caught the device in midair and vanished again. Nyx was at Mary's side in an instant, holding the sobbing woman. Then Conner was back, grabbing his mom and holding on tight as the wound on her cheat healed far, far faster than human would. The boy was crying too, but he and Mary were both smiling through their tears.

"You are free Mary. Hayden Tenno?" Nyx said quietly. "Meet Mary and Conner. They are like us."

"Welcome to the family Mary, Conner." Hayden said with a nod as he examined the three still forms.

"I thought I was dead." Mary said softly. "Thank you."

"What are family for but to protect one another?" Mag asked with a laugh as Mary cried. "We may hurt each other, but we are the _only_ ones who can."

"You are not nice." Conner said with a frown.

"No I am not, Conner." Mag said with a nod. "But I won't hurt you unless you deserve it."

"Mag." Hayden snapped.

"What?" Mag demanded, then froze as Hayden growled. "Yes... Um... Hayden..." She said in a chastened tone.

"Good girl."


	19. Chapter 19

**Plans**

"What now?" Mary asked Hayden as she and Lynn helped the unhurt nurse move the hurt one onto a gurney. Conner had been very reluctant to leave his mom's side even for an instant, but Nyx had cajoled him away from Mary long enough for Mary to help clean up a bit of the mess in the lab. She didn't even need to nudge his mind to sleep, he was so exhausted that as soon as he relaxed, he was out like a light in Nyx's arms. Mary smiled at the sight of the armored woman rocking a slumbering boy, but focused on Hayden.

"Well..." Hayden said, looking around. "This place stinks of evil and death. But..." He shook his head. "So do I."

"Well..." Mary shook her head as well. "I don't like this place. Conner was born here, and I haven't left it except on missions for whoever was running it. Never saw anyone I was sure was in charge." Conner yawned hugely and smiled as Nyx set him down. He went to his mom, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"Hayden." A voice sounded to Nyx's ears. From Mag and Hayden's suddenly stiff postures, they could hear it was well. Nyx recognized it. Irina was unhappy. "I don't know what is going on in there, but the men who ran off all vanished into a cave three kilometers from the entrance where you went in and haven't come out."

"The situation is under control. For now, Irina." Hayden replied. Mary looked at him, curious, but Lynn just smiled. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, I was just hailed by people who claim to be with the US Marines. A flight of US Marine helicopters is inbound. They say they are to pick up prisoners?" Irina asked. "Did _you_ call for that?"

"No." Hayden replied slowly. "We didn't." He looked at Nyx and Mag who tensed. "Irina, get ready for a fast evac."

"My bird is heavily loaded with fuel and ordinance, it won't outrun those, Hayden." Irina said sourly. "I picked the 'Crocodile' because it is armored and heavily armed." Hayden sighed but Nyx nodded.

"If I may..." Nyx said slowly. "This may be an opportunity." Hayden waved for her to continue.

"Marlena?" Irina's voice came over the radio. It was jubilant. "You are alive!"

"It's...complicated, Aunt Irina. Call me Nyx." Nyx said with a wince. "How long can you... is 'loiter' the proper word?"

"I can loiter for a while. I have extra fuel tanks." Irina said calmly. "What do you propose?"

"First and foremost, we need to get the non-combatants out of here." Nyx said calmly. "Hayden, can you shift the door while not inside?" Hayden and Lynn both hissed, the others looked blank.

"I've never tried." Hayden said with a shake of his head. "I can sense it. But I have never tried to move it while not inside." He paused and stiffened in place. "Yes..." He said softly. "I think I can."

"We need a safe place to send it to." Nyx said with a nod. "Mag? Any suggestions?"

"You are asking me, Miss Mind Control?" Mag asked sourly. "If you are talking about what I think you are, it shouldn't matter."

"No need to be cryptic." Irina said with a laugh. "SVR and others have known Hayden could vanish from the face of the Earth for some time. No one can figure out _how_ he does it. The arguments get... heated in the analysts' offices from what I understand."

"Then what say the non-combatants _disappear_?" Nyx asked with a smile that was probably visible even through her solid faceplate. "Hayden?"

"It will probably knock me out." Hayden said dubiously. He paused as Nyx held out her hand. "Nyx?" He asked cautiously.

"I have spare power at the moment." Nyx replied. "Take what you need, Hayden." Hayden nodded and took her hand. A tug slammed through her and then she was floating as his grip held her up, but a shimmering golden archway appeared on the wall nearby. "Go... Go on, Lynn..." Nyx gasped.

"Wait a sec..." Mag snapped and stepped through the portal. Then she was back and gave out a sigh. "Pity. It wasn't a trap."

"_Who_ could trap us, Mag?" Nyx demanded.

"I dunno." Mag replied snarkily. "_Who_ could snatch you out from the middle of a Marine Corps base in the middle of an alert? Hmm?" She asked sarcastically.

"Go on." Hayden said to the frozen nurse. Mary and Conner were staring at the archway in unfeigned wonder, but the nurse who was standing was frozen in fear. "It won't hurt you, Nurse Gornes and we have medical gear on the other side."

"I..." The nurse swallowed and then paused as Lynn took her hand.

"It's all right." Lynn said gently. "It's a bit disorienting. Mary, keep hold of Conner please? The room isn't that big, but we do have some things that should keep him entertained." Hayden glanced at her and she nodded. "Do you like to read, Conner?" She asked as she pushed the gurney into the archway. Mary and Conner followed the gurney in before the boy could reply.

"I sincerely hope she locks up the firearms." Nyx said with a shiver.

"If he is dumb enough to play with a loaded weapon, then he is man enough to take the consequences." Mag snapped, irate. "I am _bored_. I want to hurt someone!"

"He is a _kid_, Mag." Nyx said sternly. "You were a child once, weren't you?"

"Nope." Mag said with a laugh. "Born fully grown, that was me." Nyx growled at her and Mag laughed. "Come on, sis. Lighten up. Let's go work off some frustration."

"We don't know that the incoming are enemies, Mag." Hayden said with a sigh. "We do not fire first."

"Who _me_?" Mag asked innocently. "I wouldn't do _that_, would I Hayden?" It was impossible to tell, but she was probably batting her eyelashes at him from her posture.

"I am not going to dignify that with an answer." Hayden replied as the odd trio made their way back toward the entrance. "Nyx?" He asked as Nyx stumbled.

"Recovering." Nyx replied. "It needed to be done, so I did it. I will deal." She sighed as Mag dropped the pistol she had been carrying and picked up a large machine gun from where the Marine had dropped it when she was hit. "Mag, can you at least _pretend_ not to enjoy hurting people?"

"Why?" Mag asked. "Isn't self deceit wrong?" She asked with a laugh as she checked the weapon and then jacked a round into the chamber. "At least my ammo didn't change."

"We do not fire first." Hayden said softly, but it was a command. Mag pouted but nodded. He picked a assault rifle and then sighed as he saw the receiver was crushed. "Mag... You bent _my_ rifle."

"Oops." Mag said innocently. Hayden growled at her and she laughed. Nyx shook her head and started searching lockers nearby and then crowed in triumph as she found a locked weapons cabinet. She started looking for something to break the lock and Mag shook her head. "Sis... move..." She said with a snort. Nyx dropped as the lock flew off the cabinet and flew to the far wall with enough force to embed itself in the metal. "There you go." She laughed as Nyx made a rude gesture at her. "Better. We will make a badass out of you yet."

Nyx shook her head and stepped up to the cabinet again, Hayden at her side. It was filled with weapons that Nyx did not recognize. They were similar to some she knew, but different.

"IMI Galils..." Hayden said slowly, examining the rifles. "Good weapons, but..." He shook his head. "No, this isn't the Israelis. Not Mossad. Not their style at all. Besides, they sell the rifles to all kinds of people. Go on, Nyx. Galils are easy to use for assault rifles."

Hayden and Nyx both moved to grab rifles from the cabinet and then ammunition. Luckily, there were several sets of pouches large enough to hold several spare clips. Hayden also grabbed several other objects. Nyx took a moment to familiarize herself with the machinery of the rifle and nodded. It was similar to the old AK-47 that Yargo had maintained diligently as his secret surprise for would be burglars. It wasn't exactly the same, and she fumbled a few attempts to change magazines before she got the mechanics. She paused as a large object flew out of the cabinet past them. She and Hayden spun to see the surface to air launcher fly into Mag's waiting hands.

"Mag..." Hayden said in the tone of a man trying to be patient. "We do _not_ shoot first."

"I won't." Mag promised. "I will shoot _last_."

"What are the choppers doing?" Hayden asked Irina whose reply came quick.

"They are heading for the landing pad that I dropped you off on." Irina replied. "Hmmm. As if they know _exactly_ where it is." Hayden nodded.

"How many?" Hayden asked, obviously thinking hard.

"Four." Irina replied. "I think they are CH-53 Super Stallions. Yuri pulled up the specs. We are slightly faster, but less maneuverable. But four to one... Yuri is worried."

"_Yuri_?" Nyx asked cautiously. "_Who_ is Yuri?"

"Yuri is gunner, girl." A sour male voice replied in badly accented English. "Crazy intelligence agent may fly like madwoman, but she cannot operate guns at same time."

Smotri, mal'chik (Watch it, boy.) Irina snapped in Russian. YA znayu, gde vy zhivete (I know where you live.) A gulp sounded and then Irina switched back to English. "Yuri is a good boy, but... inexperienced. I borrowed him from Spetznatz when Hayden called. I have time to come in, pick you up." She said cautiously.

"No." Hayden said slowly. "Stay where you are. We need answers. If this goes bad, evac back to the transport."

"I am _not_ leaving my niece, Hayden." Irina's tone might have bent steel. "If those helicopters are hostile, they _die_. I have a full load of rockets and gun rounds."

"I _knew_ I liked her." Mag said as she slapped her palms together, her weapons staying were they were in midair. "Even if that crazy Russian suborbital transport made me barf."

"We had... as you Americans say 'A need for speed'." Irina laughed. "And it was funny watching a big tough Marine get _sick_."

"Don't put on airs." Mag snapped. "_You_ got sick too."

"True. But _I_ didn't whine about it." Irina said with a snort. Then her voice turned professional. "I only see the four, Hayden. They are moving to land. But if these are Marines, they will have escorts somewhere. And probably even if they are not."

"Okay." Hayden said with a nod. "Super Stallions mean Marines. Or someone wants us to _think_ Marines." He moved to stand near a door that obviously led to the outside from the cold wind that seeped in. "Take cover." He snapped as the sound of rotors came from the door. Mag and Nyx moved to crouch down behind objects as Hayden readied his rifle. "If they try to leave, disable them, Irina. Try not to destroy them. We need evidence, not just bodies." A curt acknowledgement came and then Irina was silent.

"Hayden?" Nyx asked, worried.

"They are expecting me." Hayden replied calmly as he sighted down on the door with his 'borrowed' rifle. The few survivors who could move in their prison of metal quailed from him as he stood ready for whatever.

"Hello?" A male voice asked from just outside. Nyx stiffened, recognizing it. It was Jackson, the American agent from Siberia. What were the odds?

"You _do_ have a death wish, Jackson." Hayden called back. "You. Alone. Now." He did not move as a shadow moved into the base. The shadow resolved into a man wearing a parka. "Hands!" He commanded and the figure showed empty hands.

"Hayden." Irina's voice on the radio was perplexed. "Only one squad of troops has left the helicopters. They look...odd. They are moving towards the base and-" Nyx jerked as her aunt's voice was suddenly squelched by static. They were jammed!

"Hayden." Jackson didn't sound worried at all that Hayden's aim point was on him. "Stand down, my friend. We are not enemies."

"How did you know where the base was?" Hayden asked, his tone conversational. He did _not_ lower his weapon. "And if your goons take another step, I will shoot you." Not a threat, a promise.

"Hayden." Jackson said with a sigh. "We are not enemies. We don't have to be enemies. You have injured, we have medics." Nyx went stiff and she could see Mag stiffened as well. How could he know that.? Unless he was part of what was happening here.

"I didn't call for a medevac." Hayden said, his rifle lowering slightly. Nyx froze. What was he _doing_?

"We were monitoring. We know the Marine was shot." Jackson said with a nod. "Where is the girl, Galina you call her? Here?"

"Monitoring." Hayden said with a nod. "_You_ were pulling the strings."

"My boss at Langley was. He brought me in a couple of days ago and...well... I did _not_ react well." Jackson admitted. "Look, Hayden. No one's hands are clean here. We made a mistake. We are trying to _fix_ that mistake."

"Prove it." Hayden said sharply, his rifle coming back up.

"Okay, I will." Jackson said, his hand going slowly to a pocket and coming up with a radio. He spoke into it. "Team One, find the ones who evaced the base and bring them here. Gently. And I want all the sample containers accounted for. _All_ of them. If any of you _lose_ one, I will make you scour the whole _cliff face_ in a bathrobe until you find it. Clear? Good." He shut down the radio and lowered it. "It's under control, Hayden."

"Is it?" Hayden replied softly. "I didn't hear any acknowledgements. Must be _some_ discipline in your paramilitary guys these days." He said sarcastically. Jackson sighed.

"Hayden." Jackson shook his head. "Look. We need the samples. You don't need them all." He stiffened as Hayden did.

"You try to take off with those samples and you and all your people will die." Hayden said calmly. "I won't let you play with this It's too dangerous."

"We won't _play_." Jackson said with the hint of a snarl. "But we need to be prepared."

"For what?" Hayden snapped, patience fading. "Armageddon? Go ahead, Jackson. Do whatever you are going to try. It won't work. If you try to leave, your birds are scrap."

"If you are referring to the Mi-24VM that is trying to hide on the mountainside..." Jackson said calmly. "It's not a concern. I have a pair of Super Cobras dogging it that they haven't even seen."

"I am not." Hayden replied easily. "Your bosses have no idea what they are going to 'play' with, Jackson. That virus is not leaving this continent."

"Well..." Jackson shrugged. "We were going to use this facility."

"Can the crap, Jackson." Hayden said with a snarl. "Your bosses built this, didn't they? They set all this up. The labs, the experiments. All of it."

"Calm down, Hayden. Yes and no. " Jackson said with a sigh. "The CIA funded it, unknowing. My _boss_ built this. He had a team sent to make it after he caught a former agent sneaking back into the US after being Infected. As you say, the virus is too dangerous. He didn't believe Mary's reports, but only a fool would completely discount them after what happened in Lasria. Where is Mary? Is she okay?"

"How many in armor?" Hayden asked, ignoring Jackson's questions. Jackson looked at him and Hayden snorted. "I saw the armor in Lasria, Jackson. It was memorable. The heavy suits, the chain guns. How many?" Now that he had said it, Nyx could hear the whine of servo motors and quailed a bit. Yargo had told her about the elite Lasria military commandos who had worn powered armor suits and how difficult they had been to fight.

"Hayden." Jackson begged. "Stand down. You are American. We need to protect America."

"No." Hayden replied calmly. "I am Tenno. And I will protect American morons along with every other moron on this planet!" He dodged to the side as two hulking forms appeared behind Jackson and Nyx took aim.

Before Nyx could fire, white hot pain erupted in her mind. She could hear Hayden and Mag both screaming in agony, agony that matched hers. She fought it back, and found herself on the floor, her rifle away from her hands but her armor had been different enough from Hayden's that she was not as disabled. She focused her mind past her pain.

"Did you really think we would come unprepared?" Jackson asked softly as he stepped up and kicked Hayden's rifle from his grasp. "Your armor is based on Soviet designs that we stole, Hayden. We could have used you. " He said as he pulled a large handgun from a pocket. He went still as Nyx rose to her feet.

"You leave him alone." Nyx snapped, her ire up. "You are a liar and a fool!"

"What? How?" Jackson snapped.

"Mag?" Nyx asked as she focused herself.

"That hurt." Mag said, her voice angry. "You okay, Nyx?"

"It hurt." Nyx agreed. "And you know what? Just this once... I think we will do things _your_ way."

Mag was laughing maniacally as Nyx threw her hand forward and green energy traced from it to home in on each of the armored forms and Jackson who dodged, but the bolts followed him. They slammed into him and he fell, screaming in agony. A bubble of energy surrounded one of the armored forms as they both opened fire. But the bullets... hit the form that was encased by energy! He screamed and both stopped firing.

"Alive..." Hayden groaned. "We need them _alive_..."

"Party pooper!" Mag said with a sigh as she pulled both of the men's weapons from their armored hands and crushed them in midair. "That can still be you, boys. Gonna resist? Please say yes. I _like_ crushing tin cans!" Both armored forms froze and lowered their arms, their systems shutting down. "Drat." She pouted again.

"How?" Jackson gasped from where he lay. "That...that device should have disabled the armor!"

"Some questions you do get the answers to, Jackson. Nyx." Hayden said calming, his breathing returning to normal. "Gently but thoroughly. We need answers."

"Right." Nyx agreed. She focused her mind and insinuated it into Jackson's mind. He gasped and resisted as best he could, but she was careful and quick. "He...He wasn't in charge until a day ago, Hayden." Nyx said with a sigh after a moment. "He didn't know when we met in Siberia."She slumped a bit. "He truly believes he is doing the right thing. Protecting his people." Then she froze. "_You!_" She yelled. "_You killed Yargo! _" She gathered energy in her hand, green energy that seethed with her own inner torment. "_You tried to get him to tell you where I was. He would not, so you hurt him. He was a kind old man and you hurt him! You drugged him and hurt him!_" She screamed as strong arms gripped her.

"Nyx." Mag's voice came from far away. "Easy, sister..."

"_He killed himself..._" Nyx screamed and then was crying, aware of arms around her as she wept. "_Yargo killed himself to protect me..._" She was struggling now in the hands that held her. Strong, but gentle hands. "_I will tear him apart! I will kill him for Yargo!_"

"Shut down the jamming." Hayden commanded. "No more secrets. No more lies. The virus is our responsibility now, Jackson. And if I were you, once we are aboard our helicopter, I would get back on _your_ helicopter and _leave_ before we let Nyx here loose. You do _not_ want to be anywhere in the vicinity when we do. I _know_ you were ordered to do it, but Yargo was my friend too. When next we meet, one of us _dies_."

"Hayden... I..." Jackson said.

"Just shut up." Hayden snapped as he carried Nyx's struggling form from the base. "Mag? The samples?"

"Got them all." Mag sounded subdued now. "Irina is coming."

"_Let me go!_" Nyx screamed as the sound of rotors became loud, then she was lifted into something that moved under her. "Hayden! _Let me go!_"

"Let's go home, Irina." Hayden said sadly. "Back to Russia for now. We need to return the transport and helicopter at the very least. Nyx... Be calm. He is not worth what it would do to you. You are not like me or him. You are better than both of us."

"Hayden..." Nyx sobbed, then threw her arms around him and held him tight as he returned the embrace. "I..."

"It's all right, Nyx." Hayden said gently rocking her as the helicopter shuddered into the air taking them all away from the horrors of their pasts. "It's all right."


	20. Chapter 20

**The beginning**

**(Ten years later)**

Nyx knelt on the cold ice beside the unmarked grave and wept inside her helmet. Irina had finally succumbed to her illness and passed in her sleep. Per her wishes, Nyx had buried the agent in a place that only Nyx knew. Irina had lived paranoia for so many years that she had been afraid her enemies would find her after she was gone and do...something. It hadn't been rational, but Nyx had promised. Neither Mag nor Hayden had said anything as she had gathered Irina's still form up in her arms and left the Citadel to do her final duty to her aunt. Conner had wanted to come, to help, but Mag of all people had stopped him, saying it was Nyx's burden and duty. It helped a little, the affection and concern of her family. But the pain was endless.

It had been...hard. Moving on, after learning that the CIA had been responsible for Yargo's death, had been very hard. Hayden and Mag had both helped, keeping Nyx as busy as they could. For a while, Mag had even lessened her snark around her sister, but of course that hadn't lasted. Mary, Conner and Lynn had all worked with Hayden, Mag and Nyx to secure a place and build it to their specifications. They had found a secluded spot in the wilds of Antarctica and built a base slowly. Nyx had never thought that years of playing computer games such as X-Com, Command and Conquer and Starcraft would help, but she and Conner actually had a flair for managing resources carefully and frugally. Now they had a base worthy of the name, instead of a dank hole in the ground connected to an extra-dimensional pocket.

The Citadel was a marvel of extremely advanced technology. Lynn's laboratory and medical ward rivaled any hospital that Nyx had ever seen. Mag -who had turned out to be a whiz bang gunsmith- had a whole floor devoted to her research into things that went bang, boom and crunch. The golden sword on Nyx's back was a product of her sister's research. She wasn't sure _why_ Mag called it a 'Skana' but it fit her armored hand _far _better than the Japanese katana that she still had, the one she had taken from a dead agent. The sword that hung on her wall now as a treasured antique. Mary -who still hadn't chosen which path to follow- had a research section of her own, dedicated to high energy physics. She was leaning towards fire quite a bit and Nyx was sure that when she was ready, Mary would assume a warframe and pick a fire related name of some kind. Conner of course...was a born sneak. A true ninja sort. A couple more years and he would be finished growing. Hayden had, with Lynn's urging, decided that Conner had to show that he was fully grown before he could assume a warframe. Conner had been...less than enthused, but had finally acquiesced. Good thing too. Hayden brooked no insubordination.

They were all training hard, even the others who had come with them. Yuri, Kareena Jonson, and Nikky Gornes had all decided to stay with Irina and the Tenno. Hayden pushed everyone to learn, to be capable of defending themselves, but he pushed Mag and Nyx far, far harder. Almost as hard as Hayden pushed himself. They had finally managed to duplicate the power source for the warframes that Mag and Nyx wore and could duplicate the rest fairly easily. It was the neural binding that was...difficult. Finding out about that had been...bad and had actually been the last time Hayden and the team appeared as one in public. They had been forced to clean up a mess that others had made and had finally said 'enough'.

Hayden, Mag and Nyx had gone to the United Nations. Irina had gone with them, ostensibly as a representative for Russia, but she wasn't. Not really. The Russia she had known was gone. With the data taps that she had installed in various places on the internet, Irina barely had to go back to Moscow at all, and all of the Tenno thought that the Kremlin would breathe a sigh of relief when she stopped and they could stop worrying about when she would simply _appear_ to frighten the bejeebers out of some poor clerk or analyst by stepping out of the wall. Nyx had gone with her once and had tried hard not to snicker when Irina had stepped out of a wall and literally made a poor clerk mess herself. But then... The United Nations.

China had continued to be a problem. Many countries had managed, through fair means and foul, to acquire samples of the Technocyte virus, both from the initial outbreak in 1987 and the later mess. Hayden, Mag and Nyx had gone in and destroyed no less than _four_ different clandestine research labs on Chinese soil dedicated to producing more of the virus as weapons. In two they had found subjects and that would give Nyx nightmares for years. One of them still lived, if you could call Ling's existence living. Nyx didn't. Poor boy was never going to be able to walk again. Even if they _could_ get him into a warframe, his _mind_ was a mess as well from the neural linkage experiments that the insane scientists had done to him. He thought he was a figure out of legend -_Robin Hood_ no less-. Luckily, he was harmless except for demanding that the evil Prince John be smitten and Maid Marian -who he thought was Mag- marry him. Mag was not amused. They would tend him as they had tended Miang until the poor girl had passed. _That_ had been what had prompted Hayden to ask the Kremlin to set up a meet with the UN.

The three of them had walked in, all in apparent streetclothes. Hayden had shown Mag and Nyx how to camouflage the armor so it didn't even show up on metal detectors. They had waited until the Secretary General had acknowledge them and then Hayden had stepped up to address all the nations of the world. He had spoken eloquently about the threat, about the horrors, the evil that was being done. The Chinese delegation had gone up in flames, but Hayden had continued, promising that anyone who continued the horror would be handled. When the Chinese delegate had laughed at him and asked what he -one man- could do, Hayden had looked at the delegate with pity in his eyes and spoken clearly.

'I am not alone.' Hayden had said. 'And for the record: I am not a man, _nor_ am I mortal. I am Tenno. By all means, continue sending your assassins and snatch teams after me and mine if you _insist_ on throwing lives away.' A murmur had started, but he wasn't done. 'I do not care about that. But this I _do_ care about.' At a gesture from him, Mag had activated a projector she had built into her armor and Ling and Miang's horrifically mutilated forms had sprung into existence over Hayden's head. More than one of the delegates had been noisily sick at the sights. When he was sure he had their attention, Hayden continued. _'Any_ who do such actions will earn our wrath. We are _utterly_ neutral in your silly territorial and economic disputes. We couldn't care _less_ about power, money, fame... None of those mean _anything_ to us. You cannot _bribe_ us. You have _nothing_ we want. You cannot _threaten_ us. You cannot _find_ us. And even if you _could_? You cannot fight us. We are _not_ your enemies unless you make us such. And if you _do_...?' He had sighed and shrugged. 'Hope whatever deity you follow forgives. For the Tenno will _not_. Do yourselves a favor. Stop this madness. Or we _will_.'

With that Hayden, Mag and Nyx had strode from the hall, joined Irina and gone home. No one dared stop them. Funny thing... Far fewer governments tried to replicate the virus after that. Even the Chinese stopped after the _fourth_ research facility 'mysteriously' blew up. Things had settled a bit after that. Nyx had been working on her own studies, looking to focus her control of her own abilities and assist Lynn and the other medical staff when and as she could. But then... Irina had fallen ill and no matter what anyone could do, she had wasted away. Nyx had pleaded with her to accept a warframe, live on that way and Irina had scoffed at the idea.

'I am not Tenno, girl.' Irina had said, punctuated by coughing. 'I am not like you. I love you, Nyx... But please. Don't ask that of me. I am not like you. I am too...human. I have seen too much and done too much. I need...an end.'

Nyx had argued, but Irina could have given a rock immovable lessons. Then one morning, Nyx had woken in the quarters that she shared with Irina and Irina...hadn't. Nyx hadn't said a word, simply bundled up her aunt in the sheets of her bed and carried her from the Citadel in silence. Mag and Hayden escorted her to the gate, but stopped there. Nyx had carried Irina's still form into the Antarctica wastelands until she found a pretty spot. Irina had always liked beautiful things and had treasured the art that Nyx had done for her. Nyx had dug a hole deep into the ground, despite it being well below freezing and the wind picking up, it was no chore in a warframe. She had laid Irina to rest and covered the hole, but then... She hadn't had any words. She had never been religious, and Irina had been anything but. So, every year, she tried to think of words, coming back to the spot on the day Irina had passed, guided unerringly by her warframe's systems. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't say goodbye. This made the fourth year she had made this trek. She couldn't let Irina go.

"I am sorry, Aunt Irina." Nyx sobbed as she knelt. "I am sorry. I was never good enough. Strong enough. Fast enough. Smart enough. I couldn't help you. You wouldn't let us save you. We could have! Why? What do I do now, Aunt Irina?" Nyx begged the empty landscape. "_What do I do?_" She screamed. There was no answer. There never was.

After her usual hour of kneeling, Nyx rose from her spot and started back to the Citadel. But... something had changed. She froze as she stared at something that didn't belong in this trackless wasteland. Human tracks. Fresh. They hadn't been there long or the Antarctic wind would have erased them like it had Nyx's. She growled as she started following them.

It had been some time since anyone had dared attack the Tenno. Machinery had a distressing habit of falling apart any time it got close to the citadel. Mag could throw tiny objects very far with devastating results. She had knocked down a fighter jet with a steel marble once and kept the tail assembly as a souvenir. Satellites likewise stopped functioning as they came close to overhead. That was Mary's field, high energy physics made for some...interesting applications at times. And no, Nyx wasn't going to tell anyone what Mary had cooked up. It was fun though, swatting space junk like flies or de-orbiting it so that Mag could catch it and they could use the material to build things. That was where they had gotten the plutonium for their nuclear reactors, from spy satellites that had gotten too close. So machines didn't work. And people? Well... Nyx tried not to kill people these days, but fuddling their minds so they wound up turned around? That she could and did do.

Nyx paused when she saw the figure making the tracks. Two. Human. They seemed to be carrying a third? What the-? Crash survivors maybe? She decided to call it in.

"Citadel, this is Nyx." She said as she watched the odd trio make heavy way through the windblown snow on a general heading towards the citadel.. "We have something odd at the perimeter, point seven. It looks like three humans. One may be hurt. Any planes go down in this area recently?" Any longer than a week or two and there was no chance for survival in this part of Antarctica without the advantages the Tenno possessed..

"That is a negative on plane crashes, Nyx." Hayden's response was swift. "Weapons?"

"None that I can see." Nyx replied. "Shall I approach?" Nyx stared. Was that blood in the snow? It was hard to tell.

"I have the breach on sensor." Hayden said quietly. "I will be there in three minutes."

"Hayden, I think one of them is bleeding." Nyx said softly. "I am going to hail them. I'll stay in character."

"You do that." Hayden wasn't really worried. Well, neither was Nyx. She had dealt with far larger groups than three on her own in the past. Instill a little fear, some adroit mental nudging and they usually found better things to do.

"Right." Nyx closed the com link, moved to flank the unknowns and then called out. "Hold where you are!"

"What the-?" A young male voice sounded from one of the three. His accent was pure Midwestern American. "Who is there?"

"I am the one who is asking the questions, young man." Nyx replied easily. Her warframe's systems could hide her from sight, but what would be the point? If these were enemies, she would frighten them away. If not? Then...what? She wasn't sure. "What are you doing in the middle of nowhere in Antarctica?" She asked as she stepped into their view, her armor projecting the image of a parka over here warframe. "You lost?"

"Well..." The one who had spoken seemed to wilt. "Yes." He admitted.

"The coast is back that way." Nyx said, waving in the general direction. "You are heading inland."

"I know where we are."T he boy -he couldn't be more than sixteen or seventeen by his voice- replied heatedly. "I mean we are seeking a new way."

"Huh?" Nyx asked intelligently. That hadn't been anywhere on her list of possible responses from these.

"I mean..." The boy stammered. "Are you a Tenno?" He almost begged.

"Why?" Nyx asked. "You are a long way from home by your accent."

"No home." A weak female voice came the one being carried. Nyx stepped closer and yes, the girl was bleeding from a scalp wound. It looked...recent. "We are all we have."

"Ah..." Nyx sighed and then came to a quick decision. She knew the area well from training and exploring on her own. "There is a ice cave not too far from here. Shelter from the wind at the very least. What happened to you?"

"My own dumb fault." The girl replied. "Slipped and bashed my head on a sharp piece of ice."

"Not your fault, Katrina." The second form -another male- replied supportively. "None of us thought to bring extra snowshoes or other winter gear."

"Come on." Nyx said sourly, leading the three towards the cave she knew was empty. Despite several questions, she ignored them until they had entered the cave, then indicated the floor. "Set her down so I can see the damage." The two males did as instructed, laying the girl down. Nyx was gentle as she moved the parka hood out of the way. The girl's hair was cut very short, in an almost military cut. Almost. The cut was deep, but hadn't damage the brain according to Nyx's warframe sensors. Nyx shook her head. "I don't have a first aid kit on me. Do any of you?" She asked. Both the males shook their heads but the girl smiled.

"Left front parka pocket." The girl said, wilting a bit as she relaxed.

"Smart girl. You came prepared." Nyx said with a smile as she pulled the small but complete kit from the indicated pocket, selected an alcohol wipe and started gently cleaning the cut. The girl gasped but remained still. "So... Where did you jump?" Nyx asked after a moment. The girl stiffened and the boys, who had been relaxing a bit, froze as well.

"What do you mean?" The first boy said slowly.

"Don't lie to me." Nyx said mildly, but with a bite anyway. "The only way you got this deep in the interior without any gear is by parachute." Which, considering the weather in the area... was insane.

"We _had_ gear!" The second male snapped. "That lousy good for nothing scum of a pilot stole it!" Nyx shook her head as she closed the wound on the girl's scalp with several sticky strips from the kit intended for just such things.

"So... You are not lost. But you are." Nyx said with a puzzled frown that was hidden by her helmet. "You jumped out of a plane. And... the gear that you had..." She trailed off and the girl sighed.

"The pilot was supposed to push it out after us. He didn't." She slumped a bit. "My name is Katrina." She said in a hopeful voice. "Are you Tenno?" She pleaded.

"Katrina!" The first boy snapped.

"Shut it, Eric!" The girl snapped right back. "Either we are dead or we are not. Without gear we are dead. You know this."

"We just have to find the Tenno!" Eric said, his tone hopeless. "They will help us."

"Why?" Nyx asked softly as she repacked the kit and replaced it in Katrina's pocket. "Why do you need to find them and why do you think they will help you? They are not human. Human matters do not interest them."

"We..." Eric paused and then swallowed. "We all... I... I mean..."

"What Eric is trying to say, Ma'am..." The other boy said with a sigh. "...is that we don't fit in. We never have. We don't believe that money and the making and spending of it is the be all and end all of life." Nyx looked at him and he bowed his head. "My name is Jack and well... The three of us came to Antarctica to join the Tenno." Nyx felt her eyes go very wide under her helmet.

"Oh... dear..."


	21. Chapter 21

**What?**

"They want to do _what_?" Hayden demanded of Nyx as she met him just outside the cave mouth. "Join us? Are they out of their minds?"

"I don't know." Nyx admitted. ""I ...haven't pressed. They are all exhausted. From what they said, they hired a plane in Argentina. The plan was to parachute out past the edge of our 'no fly zone' and hike in. But their pilot either got cold feet or double crossed them. Either way, he left with most of their gear."

"Ouch." Hayden said with a grunt. "Families?"

"I didn't ask." Nyx said calmly. "Hayden...That girl is hurt worse than she thinks. She is also on the edge of hypothermia, maybe already there. The boys I am not sure of, but I think them too." Hayden shook his head and Nyx shrugged. "Hayden, you know what Lynn is going to want to do. If they die out here..." Hayden winced and Nyx nodded. "We have the quarters we set up for the plane crash survivors a year ago. We haven't repurposed them yet." She realized she was babbling and shut her mouth.

"Nyx?" Hayden asked gently. "You okay?"

"No." Nyx replied sadly. "I... I can't let Aunt Irina go, Hayden. She would probably have slapped me upside the head for being stupid, but... I can't Hayden."

"Yeah, she would have." Haydn said in fond, sad memory. "She wouldn't want you tearing yourself apart for something that wasn't your fault. She would tell you to find something else to do. So..." He nodded as Nyx stiffened. "These kids are your responsibility."

"Hayden!" Nyx protested. "I am no nanny."

"No." Hayden agreed. "But you are hurting and need something to distract yourself. So... What do we do?"

"Well, first thing to do is to get that girl -Katrina- to Lynn. I think her core temperature is dropping." Nyx said, thinking hard. "Then the boys. We will need to keep them sequestered and find out what is going on. It could be some kind of setup, so we will need to scan them all thoroughly. But first we have to get them to the Citadel. Quietly."

"Not a problem." Hayden said as he pulled a small device from his belt, flicked it and tossed it into the cave. It started to hiss as it flew. Nyx stared after the gas grenade. "We have transport coming. Yuri is driving."

"Hayden!" Nyx protested. "They are humans! That gas could kill them!" She snapped as she ran back into the cave. All three humans were unconscious. She ignored the sputtering gas grenade -it wouldn't affect her - as she ran to Katrina's side. The girl was breathing shallowly and her face was pale. Nyx snarled, scooped the girl up and ran. As she ran, she spoke onto the Tenno's encrypted short range com line. "Lynn, medical emergency! Head injury and possible hypothermia! Yuri! Get here fast and don't let Hayden hurt the other two!"

"How am I supposed to do _that?_" Yuri replied, his English a far cry from the first time she had heard it. Of course, he practiced every day now. Most of the Tenno learned other languages as a matter of course. "He can break me in half!" That was true, Nyx admitted to herself, but she was in no mood for quibbling.

"He made them my responsibility." Nyx snapped. "So I take responsibility! Hayden, I know you are listening. If you hurt them, I will make you dance the 'Safety Dance' again."

Hayden had...irritated Nyx when a plane filled with tourists seeing Antarctica had crashed near the 'no-fly zone'. He hadn't wanted to help. Lynn, Nyx, the nurses and Yuri had gone to assist and found several humans alive, if battered. They had returned to the Citadel with the dazed humans, treated their wounds and then evacuated them to the closest place with an airstrip which happened to be the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. They had dropped the survivors off and left without saying a word to the stunned scientists there. According to the internet, the survivors had 'walked' to South Pole Station. None of them would remember their time in the Citadel, thanks to Nyx and Lynn's chemical wizardry. When the rescue party had returned, Hayden had tried to berate them only to pause in mid-rant and start dancing. No one had dared say a word, but everyone knew that Nyx hadn't been happy. She wasn't an extroverted person, but her ethics were ironclad. Cross them at your peril. Hayden... hadn't punished her or the others.

"Make sure to scan her when you get her in." Hayden said without a trace of emotion. "I found a GPS tracker on one of these."

"Never mind. The Citadel jammers will fry any delicate electronics that are not ours when they get close." Lynn's voice was tart as she entered the conversation. "Nyx? What is the patient's condition?"

"Head wound, from a fall according to her. She is shivering, showing muscle contractions that are getting worse." Nyx replied as she loped, her running steps clear and sure. She knew these lands like she knew her warframe, intimately. "She has been bleeding for some time and is cold to the touch. Hayden used Mag's knockout gas on her."

"He _what?_" Lynn demanded. "On a person with a head wound? Get her _here! Now!_" Lynn started barking orders, obviously speaking aloud to her team. "Nikky, prep the gear. Kareena, get the table ready!"

Nyx ran to the ice archway that was the gate to the Citadel and did not even slow down. A door slammed open ahead of her and Lynn was there, her form encased in a specially built environmental suit that doubled as a hazmat suit for 'special' circumstances. Nyx ran in, laying the shivering girl down on the table that the surgical garbed nurses were clustered around, then stepped back as the nurses closed in, one with shears to cut the girl's partially soaked clothing away and the other with various medical gear in hand ready to go on as soon as the girl was clear. Nyx nodded to Lynn.

"Do you need me?" Nyx asked.

"No." Lynn replied absently, scrutinizing a readout. The table had built in short range medical scanners. "You were right. Her core temperature is 92 degrees Fahrenheit. But we are in time. Go. And tell Hayden I am going to 'talk' to him about his choices of sedative..." She said sourly. Nyx nodded and moved to leave as Lynn muttered. "Warned him about that gas lowering body temperature... Ignore _me_ will he?"

Nyx walked out of the room and then leaned against the wall, drained. She wasn't physically tired. The warframe kept her in a state of equilibrium. Indeed, she didn't even _age_ according to Lynn's tests. But emotional shocks still roiled her. She looked up as a throat cleared nearby.

"Nyx?" Nikky said, holding out a bundle of torn fabric. "These had several electronic devices attached. All fried by the gate security. But still..."

"Joy." Nyx said sadly. "A plant of some kind."

"They were all external." Nikky said, turning to go back in the room. "I doubt she even knew they were there."

"Well. now they know where the gate is..." Nyx said sourly as she hefted the pile of cut clothing.

"Nah." Mag's usual sarcastic voice preceded her into the corridor by the medical ward. "I turned one of Mary's low grade EMP projectors at you before you closed within a mile. Fried them good but wouldn't even singe your warframe. Figured you would do something stupidly heroic." Mag shrugged when Nyx shook her head. "I'll take those. Maybe I can figure out who sent them." Nyx handed the clothing to Mag with a nod.

"I don't think these kids were sent." Nyx said slowly, looking through a window at Lynn and the nurses working. With the parka off, it was clear that Katrina was a brunette."They seem...somewhat clueless. It's weird."

"Well..." Mag whistled softly as she looked through the window as well. "That girl is a looker. Kind of pale, and clammy right now. But I bet with the right juice, she would perk right up."

"Not now, Mag." Nyx said softly. "Please?" For her part, Mag just sighed and for once, her usual insolent banter deserted her.

"Nyx..." Mag said seriously. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Please, sis..." Mag pleaded. "Don't make me _hurt_ you to make you listen."

"I... I do hear you, Mag." Nyx said slowly. "I do... It's just..." She trailed off as Mag sighed again.

"I know." Mag replied sadly. "I loved her too. She was...special to all of us." She shook herself. "Ah, look at me, all weepy!" She said with a growl.

"I didn't hear or see anything." Nyx said with fondness. She did love her sister, even if Mag drove her absolutely crazy at times.

"You never do, Little Miss Mind Control." Mag said with a laugh. "I'll go take care of these and get some quarters set up for our guests. Three, you said?"

"Two boys and her." Nyx said slowly. "Wait a sec..." She said slowly. "Mag? How many warframes have you built?"

"A bunch." Mag replied. "I don't have power sources for more than five ready though. Why?"

"Lynn won't take a warframe." Nyx said, suspicion rising. "She is too much of a pacifist even for the 'healer' frame you made for her."

"Yeah." Mag agreed sourly. "Made me want to spit in her soup. All that work _wasted_."

"_Was_ it?" Nyx asked slowly. Mag looked at her and Nyx nodded. "Work with me here. Kareena, Mary, Nikky and now Katrina. Three people who are training to assume warframes and a newcomer who wants to _join_ the Tenno." Mag froze and Nyx nodded.

"Conner, Yuri and two newcomers who say they want to join..." Mag replied in a soft, worried tone. "Nyx..." She breathed. "That is eight and I have eight total warframes finished, but only five powered. I have others in various stages of construction, but..." The two female Tenno stared at one another. Neither believed in coincidence any more than it's more commonly known relative, the tooth fairy.

"How?" Nyx asked softly. "Hayden _might_ have been able to set something like this up. He defines sneaky sometimes, but..."

"He hasn't gone anywhere for a while." Mag agreed. "He has been busy with us. Training us." Nyx nodded slowly.

"Yeah." Nyx said softly. "Keep it quiet, Mag, but find out what you can from the devices." Mag nodded. "If this is a set up, we will need to find out who did it and why." Then she chortled. "If we find a target, I will ask Hayden to send you to..._explain_ that what they did wasn't wise."

"Aw, you say the nicest things, Nyx." Mag said with undisguised glee. "I knew I liked you for a reason. I will let you know." She said as Lynn came out of the ward, smiling.

"We were in time, Nyx." Lynn said with a nod. "Good work."

"Any other oddities?" Nyx asked, looking back at the slumbering woman in the medical ward as Mag made a thankfully silent withdrawal.

"There is an odd inert mass in her intestine." Lynn said soberly. "No idea what it is. It's not chemical, biological or any form of technology." Nyx looked at her and Lynn shook her head. "We are going to warm her up completely before we try to remove whatever it is. She is not going to enjoy that but better if she is awake for it."

"I'll go see about setting up a bed for her." Nyx said with a nod. "The boys can use the dormitory."

"Nyx..." Lynn sad slowly. "Why were they here?"

"They want to join us." Nyx said simply and Lynn inhaled in shock. "Yeah." Lynn's eyes narrowed as she looked through the glass at the slumbering girl. "What?" Nyx asked.

"Hayden...mentioned something a while back." Lynn said slowly. "About expanding our numbers. But he wasn't serious. I don't think..." She mused. "We were drunk." She admitted a bit sheepishly.

"Your business, Lynn." Nyx said gently. "But I don't think this is Hayden's style."

"What is?" Hayden asked as he stepped into view from a cross corridor. Nyx looked at him and then discarded subterfuge. It likely wouldn't work anyway. "the boys are unhurt. Yuri and I put them in room 4-A."

"We have eight warframes, five of which are almost ready to be donned." Nyx said slowly. "And three not quite there yet. We have _five_ people almost ready to assume their warframes and _three_ who just arrived asking to join us." Hayden stared at Nyx, his shock apparent even through his closed helmet. "Coincidence?" She asked sourly.

"I didn't set this up." Hayden said after a moment. "But this is... sort of...the way I would do it. Find people who are interested, bring them in and see what they are made of."

"Hayden, those kids would have died." Nyx said quietly. "Night is falling." Lynn and Hayden both winced at that. Antarctica was cold enough during the day. At night?

"I didn't set this up, Nyx." Hayden said quietly. "Scan my mind if you wish. I didn't do this."

"Someone did." Nyx said slowly. "Someone who knew what was going on here. Someone who...liked... planning..." She froze in place. Hayden did as well. "No way..." She said, feeling faint.

"Nyx?" Lynn said, concerned. "You okay?"

"No." Nyx said slowly. "I don't know, Lynn. I... I need to look over Irina's records. I need to see if she..." She paused as Hayden laid a hand on her arm.

"Let me, Nyx." Hayden said in a kind voice. "You are enough of a mess now. These kids need you. The boys are clean, and Yuri is fabricating them some jumpsuits. They will need food. They will be hungry when they wake as well as very confused. We will need to do full background checks, but my gut says that they are that they seem. Kids."

"Well, they wouldn't want to eat _my_ cooking." Nyx said with a faint chuckle. "Is Mary busy?" Mary was the unofficial chef of the Tenno although all took turns. Mary was just better than any of the others. Nyx in particular could burn water. And had.

"Go ahead and ask." Lynn said, giving Hayden a sidelong suspicious look. Hayden raised his hands in surrender and she sighed. "Getting her out of the lab would probably be a good thing. It was all I could do to get Kareena and Nikky out too."

"Have they chosen?" Nyx asked cautiously.

"That is their business and Hayden's, Nyx. They will say when they are ready." Lynn said in faint reproof and Nyx nodded, chastened. "Go on, find Mary before she gets caught up in her work again."

"Let me know when Katrina wakes up." Nyx said with a nod as she started off. "I'll make sure to be here."

"It will be a bit." Lynn cautioned her. "And then we need to get whatever is in her out."

"I'll be here." Nyx promised.


	22. Chapter 22

**Life Choices**

Nyx was there when Katrina woke. She could tell instantly when the girl did. Katrina gasped and tried to sit up, but couldn't. The straps holding her lower body in place were not tight, but also not going to budge. Her eyes were covered, but that was to keep them protected. They had put a patient gown on her.

"Easy." Nyx said gently, patting Katrina's hand then taking hold of it. "You have had a rough day, Katrina."

"I can't see!" Katrina pleaded, her face fearful. "Please..."

"it's all right, Katrina." Nyx said gently rubbing the hand that she held. "You cannot see because we have to protect ourselves. We have shut down your optic nerves for a time. It is not harmful and completely reversible. We taped your eyes closed and covered them up to keep you from damaging them when you can't use them. " She said gently. "You are safe. Be calm, Katrina. No one will hurt you unless you bring it upon yourself."

"You..." Katrina slowly relaxed. "You are Tenno. You didn't say, in the cave. But I knew you had to be."

"I am." Nyx said gently. "My name is Nyx."

"_Nyx?_" Katrina asked dubiously, then froze. "Ah..."

"I had a human name." Nyx said, gently rubbing Katrina's hand. "I gave it up. I am no longer human Katrina. I haven't been one for a long time."

"I..." Katrina slumped a bit. "Why are my legs strapped down?" She asked.

"The docs detected something very odd in your colon, Katrina." Nyx said gently. "They need to get it out. The straps are to keep you from moving and hurting yourself during the procedure."

"Odd?" Katrina asked slowly. "Odd how?"

"We don't know." Nyx admitted. "All our scans are negative. It's not biological, technological or any form of harmful substance we know of. As far as any of our scanners can tell, it is a lump of plastic. Did you swallow a lump of plastic, Katrina?" She asked in a joking tone.

"No." Katrina said slowly. "I had a stomach ache after a wild night at the hotel before we came, but it passed."

"Celebrated, huh?" Nyx asked with a smirk. "How much did you drink?"

"A bit." Katrina admitted. "We were free. We had gotten away." She looked wistful. "Live or die, we were free."

"Was what you were running from so bad, Katrina?" Nyx asked quietly as Lynn and the nurses entered the room. "The doc is here, Katrina."

"What will you do?" Katrina asked, scared again.

"Katrina?" Lynn spoke gently. "We are going to spread and elevate your legs. We need to get that lump of plastic out of your colon. We could do it surgically, but that would open the way for all kinds of complications. So instead, we are going to do what is called a colonoscopy."

"A... what?" Katrina asked, dazed. "Wait." She swallowed. "Colon as in intestines. You are going to stick a tube up my... um..." She trailed off and Nyx gave her hand a squeeze.

"It won't hurt, Katrina." Lynn said kindly. "We made sure of that. Let us check some things. It won't take long." She started checking the various gear, starting with the IV that was run into the hand that Nyx wasn't holding.

"I am scared." Katrina said in a small voice.

"You don't need to be." Nyx said quietly. "I am here and protecting people is what I do, Katrina."

"That was what drew me to you." Katrina said softly. "I saw the video of your leader's speech at the UN. Were you there?"

"I was." Nyx replied as Lynn finished her checks. Nyx eyed the doc as Lynn prepared a syringe, but kept her voice level. "Why come to us?"

"I wanted to be a protector." Katrina said sadly. "But my family wouldn't allow me to become a policewoman or soldier. I was there to further the family's monetary interests." At that everyone in the room froze.

"How?" Nyx asked, her tone shocked.

"They were going to sell me to a rich geezer to be his trophy wife." Katrina said sadly. "Right out of high school. I was worth fifty thousand dollars." Nyx inhaled and Katrina snarled. "Untouched, you know?"

"I could see that in Russia, China or someplace like _Kenya_." Nyx shook her head. "But... In the United _States_?"

"They are not so united now." Katrina said sadly. "I remember... When I was a kid..."

"hold on, Katrina." Lynn said quietly. "We are going to spread your legs now. Don't fight it."

Katrina gave a squeak as the table split and her legs separated and elevated, bending at the knee. "Ah..."

"We need access to your lower body, Katrina." Lynn said quietly. "I am going to give you a local to keep anything from hurting. It's okay. Everyone in here is female."

"Doesn't matter." Katrina snapped. "I am not untouched anymore." Nyx gave her hand another squeeze and Katrina returned it. "My own little revenge on my family. Even if they _do_ get me back, they won't get as much money for me."

"A little stick..." Lynn said softly and Katrina stiffened as the doc injected the drug, then she went limp. "Better?" The doc asked gently.

"Yeah." Katrina said, a bit dazed. "It was uncomfortable, but now... It's okay. Do what you have to do, doc." Nyx carefully did not look as Lyn and the nurses moved in. Katrina gasped but then relaxed. "That...feels..._very_ strange. It doesn't hurt, but... Ah..." She moaned a bit.

"Be glad we are not doing a full check." Lynn said with a smile. "We would have to blow up your colon like a balloon and look over every centimeter. It would take a lot longer. Not to mention having to empty yourself out."

"Lynn..." Nyx pleaded. "Don't."

"Come on, Nyx. I know _you_ are not squeamish." Lynn said with a snort.

"No." Nyx agreed. "But there are some things you simply shouldn't _say_ to a patient who you are examining." Katrina chuckled at that and relaxed further. "Don't blame you for leaving, Katrina. Where did you meet the others?"

"My school had a trip to Buenos Aires." Katrina said softly. "I ran from there. I had some money, but I knew it wouldn't last. I ran into..." She gasped again and Nyx held on as Katrina squeezed her hand tight.

"We got it, Katrina." Lynn said kindly. "Good girl." She said, rubbing the girl's shoulder. "Get it out and take it to the lab for analysis. Class four protocols, just in case." Both nurses nodded. "I will finish up here." The nurses pulled the gear away from Katrina and then, without a word, left the room with a sealed specimen case.

"Please tell me I don't have to do this again." Katrina begged. "Please?"

"You don't." Lynn said kindly. "And... Now that that unknown object has been removed... You are officially no longer a threat."

"Which means?" Katrina asked as Lynn hit a control and her legs lowered and closed up again.

"Keep your eyes closed." Lynn warned as she touched a small box to Katrina's face. She removed the cover and then, carefully peeled back the tape that had kept Katrina's eyes closed. "You can open them." Katrina cracked her eyes and stared at Lynn. A huge smile creased her face and Lynn smiled back. "Good news is, no laxatives or anything. You will be bit sore when the local wears off. If it gets bad, tell me and I will give you something for it. Okay?" She asked as she undid the straps. Then she removed the IV.

"Yes doctor." Katrina said softly. "Thank you. For everything." She put her hand to her head and felt where her wound had been, then smiled. "You do good work."

"We try." Lynn said with a smile. "Soft foods, Nyx." Nyx nodded. The doc gave Katrina's arm another pat and left the room.

"She is Tenno too?" Katrina asked, looking sidelong at Nyx who nodded. "That armor...is..." She swallowed heavily. "May I?" She asked, holding out a hand.

"You have been touching it since you woke up." Nyx said with a laugh. "But...sure." Katrina laid a hand on Nyx's forearm and ran her hand along it.

"Is that...alive?" Katrina asked, curiosity mounting.

"Biological and technological." Nyx agreed. "Can you sit up?"

"I think..." Katrina rose and then sank back down. "Ah... no..."

"Pain?" Nyx asked, worried.

"No." Katrina said, her face reddening. "But I feel like I am about to... um... make a mess."

"_That_ I can handle." Nyx said with a nod as she pulled a bundle out from under her chair and handed it to Katrina who stared at it. "Go on. We don't want you having an accident and you are an adult. You can do it yourself."

"This is humiliating." Katrina said, but did as instructed.

"You will adjust quickly." Nyx said as she rose and held out a hand. "But... if you do really want to join us, there is something going on you will want to see."

"I do." Katrina said sadly. "I always wanted to serve. But my family... I was just a thing. Meat on two feet to be auctioned off to the highest bidder." She took Nyx's hand and drew herself to her feet.

"_That_ you won't ever have to worry about here." Nyx said with a nod. "We have a lot of strong personalities here but no one will sell anyone else. We don't need money here, so... What do you know how to do?"

"Do?" Katrina asked. "Well... Since I couldn't be a cop or soldier, I wanted to be a librarian."

"Librarian, huh?" Nyx asked slowly. "We have access to a bunch of libraries, including the new Library at Alexandria. If for whatever reason, you decide not to stay we won't keep you against your will. We can see what we can do to help you find your way."

"Please don't send me away!" Katrina begged. "I want to serve! To...protect..." She said sadly.

"We are not. But we will leave as many options open as we can." Nyx said with a sigh. She waved towards a door. "In there, you will find a jumpsuit in your size and boots in your size. Put them on and hurry. We have about ten minutes." Katrina looked at her, then moved to the door and entered the small washroom.

"What is going on?" Katrina asked through the door.

"My brother has chosen his path." Nyx said softly. "He is assuming his place among us. We will watch. It's our duty to our brethren."

"Why?" Katrina asked as she stepped out, stamping in the boots to settle them in place. The gray body hugging jumpsuit fit her well, but left little to the imagination.

"This armor..." Nyx touched her side and caressed the bio-armor gently. "These warframes, are insanely powerful. Before you are allowed anywhere near one, you will be examined in great detail. Mentally as well as physically. It will take years." Katrina sighed and nodded. "My brother Yuri has passed his tests. He faces his final ordeal now and the least we can do is witness it."

"Ordeal?" Katrina asked, scared.

"Yes." Nyx said sadly. "We cannot exactly duplicate the process that made the original armor. We have tried so many ways, but each time, the same thing happens. The neural link has to be formed in a specific way to bond the user to the warframe. If it is done any other way, it fails. If the user is unprepared, the neural damage will likely be...extreme." Katrina gulped but Nyx just nodded. "Yuri is ready. We are just going to watch."

"I expected to be weak." Katrina said as she followed Nyx out the door. "Or at least dazed from the drug she gave me. I am not." She said bemused.

"Lynn does good work." Nyx said with a chuckle. "We also have a few tricks up our sleeves. You will see many of them."

"Thank you." Katrina said softly as Nyx led her through gleaming white corridors. "I know the three of us are a massive headache, and you could have just taken us to a station or something."

"We could have." Nyx agreed. "But it would be rude." But then she paused. "Katrina, I am going to tell you and you warn your friends. Mag is the other female Tenno in a warframe currently. Be careful around her."

"Thanks for the warning." Katrina said with a nod as they pair entered a room where two familiar forms stood by a wall seemingly made of glass. "Eric! Jack!" Katrina exclaimed and ran to her friends, hugging them both.

"I am mad at you, Katrina." Eric said after returning her hug. "Why didn't you tell us you had gotten wet? We would have done something."

"What?" Katrina asked reasonably. "Our only chance was to get...well... here." She said with a smile. "Although we were very lucky to encounter Nyx." Nyx inclined her head silently and Katrina smiled. "They are going to let us stay!" Jack and Eric both nodded.

"They told us too." Eric said quietly. "I don't believe it! We made it."

"We haven't made it yet." Katrina corrected him. "And we are being rude."

Nyx nodded to the trio and moved to the glass wall. The three humans moved to stand beside her. They looked down to see a large circular room with two figures kneeling in it. Nyx touched a wall panel and Hayden's voice sounded.

"You have passed your final tests, Brother Yuri." Hayden wore his armor with helmet closed and Yuri worse a jumpsuit like the ones the boys and Katrina wore. "Are you ready to assume the burden?"

"I am, Master Hayden." Yuri replied calmly. Nyx shook her head at the theatrics, but she wouldn't interfere.

"Do you swear to follow the Code?" Hayden asked calmly. "To serve? Not to lead. Never to rule. Tenno are unsuited for such roles. We are soldiers. First, last and only, we exist to place ourselves, our skills and our weapons between those who would cause harm and the innocent." Nyx looked at Katrina and it seemed the girl was barely breathing.

"I do." Yuri replied, his accent heavy.

"We are Tenno." Hayden said softly. "Held to a higher standard. We exist because of evil, but we are not evil. We can be hard. We can be pragmatic. But we will not be cruel simply to do it. Our Way is hard enough without adding moral contradictions on top of it."

"I will keep to the Way, Master Hayden." Yuri said calmly.

"Have you chosen your warframe?" Hayden said as a series of lights appeared against the wall, each showing a vaguely human shaped object.

Eric and Jack both inhaled sharply, but at a glance from Nyx, did not move. Each circle of light showed a different warframe. Nyx smirked under her helmet This was all for show. She knew Hayden and Yuri had selected his days ago, before Yuri had done the fasting vigil that Hayden had required for some odd reason.

"Yes, Master Hayden." Yuri replied and rose sinuously from his kneeling position to stand by one in particular. Nyx wasn't sure what it looked like to her. It had three hoops that arced over it's head, but it was hard to see colors in the bright lights. All the other circles of light clicked off as Yuri stepped up the warframe and then around it.

"Take up your burden, brother." Hayden said sadly. "We will mourn you and welcome you."

"What does he...?" Jack started, only to fall silent as Nyx made a 'shush'-ing gesture.

Yuri vanished behind the warframe and then it seemed to come alive. It moved. Parts of the bio-technological armor moved as if crawling. Then all three humans jumped as Yuri screamed.

"What the-?" Katrina said sharply. "No!" She froze in place with Jack and Eric as Nyx raised a preemptory hand.

"This is his final ordeal." Nyx said sadly. "Yuri is no more. My brother is bonding to his warframe." She said as the screams continued.

"My god..." Katrina said, her face ashen. "Did it... I mean... did you...?"

"No." Nyx said sadly. "But we cannot perfectly duplicate the process that made my armor. He knew what was coming. Part of the tests is neural linkages." Eric looked green at that and Nyx nodded. "Be very sure you want to continue. That is why you are here. Now. To see what we are. What we face to become what we must."

"I see." Jack said softly as the screams suddenly ended. All four of the watchers stared down at the warframe that stepped forward to stand and then kneel in front of Hayden again. In the clearer light, it was easy to see that the hoops on the head of the warframe were gold.

"Welcome, brother." Hayden said fondly. "What is your name?"

"I am Frost."


	23. Chapter 23

**Settling in**

Nyx led the three silent teenagers from the viewing area to another, larger room. A table had been laid out and Nyx smiled as she saw plates heaped with food on it. Mary had been busy. The older Tenno loved to cook. She also loved to experiment, and since she was a gifted physicist as well as a cook, well... Her creations were marvelous, both scientific and culinary. Three chairs had covered platters in front of them with utensils.

"You all need food." Nyx said gently. "Go on, eat."

"What about you?" Katrina asked, not moving. "There are only three places."

"I am not hungry." Nyx said honestly. "I don't eat as often or as much as when I was human."

"I feel...wrong...eating when someone else is not." Katrina said softly as the boys sat. She shook her head. She froze as Nyx's helmet faceplate slid back, showing the Tenno smiling.

"It's all right." Nyx said, sinking into seiza positioned so she could see all the seated people. "I do eat, just not as much and I am really not hungry. Go ahead, Katrina..." Nyx said gently. "Eat. You need to recover. You all went through an ordeal. You need to eat and then rest. I will be here to answer your questions and guide you through this." Katrina looked rebellious for a moment, but then her stomach rumbled loudly. Nyx grinned. "_Part_ of you has sense."

"Okay." Katrina said sitting. "Do you...say grace?" She asked Nyx who shook her head.

"Tenno do not follow any of the organized religions as a group. A person's religious beliefs are their own, Katrina." Nyx said with quiet conviction. "We try not to judge others. We were human, so...it's pretty hard not to." Katrina nodded and then bowed over her plate. She did not speak aloud and the boys waited until she raised her head to open their platters. Katrina opened her own and inhaled the rich smells that came from the platter before taking her spoon to dig in to the thick stew. She took quick, careful drinks of the water that was provided as well. Nyx smiled as the two boys started eating with the grace of a pack of starving wolves. Katrina shook her head and ate carefully, almost daintily. "While you are eating, I will tell you some things." Nyx said, then shook her head as all three paused. "No, no... keep eating. You all are out of sorts. None of you have had proper nutrition for a while. That will be the least of your concerns here." Nyx said with another grin.

"Now..." Nyx continued when they started eating again, slower, the better to listen. "We are Tenno. We are all that we have. Our loyalty is to each other. No one else." Three pairs of eyes met Nyx's but they kept eating. "If, after being here for a time, you choose to go another way, we will not stop you. We are not slave masters. If you are here, then we want you to _want_ to be here. It is a hard life despite our advantages." Jack finished his bowl and looked at Nyx expectantly. Nyx nodded. "Yes Jack?"

"That was very good." Jack said with relish. "Is there a chance at more?"

"Oh, Mary is going to _love_ you three." Nyx said with a grin as she hit a panel on her forearm, sending a quick com signal to her kin. "She keeps saying _we_ eat like birds. Which...isn't _totally_ true."

"But it is." Another female voice said sourly as Mary entered the room, her arms laden with plates. "I see your appetites are good. Far better than these lunatics." She said with a nod to Nyx who smiled.

"Did you cook this, Ma'am?" Katrina asked politely.

"Yes I did. You can call me Mary if you wish." Mary said with a nod as she laid the new plates down. "We are not formal here except on special occasions. You are Katrina, right?" Katrina nodded, her eyes wide and Mary grinned. "No, I am not psychic. Lynn told me to make sure your foods were soft. I hope you like eggs. According to her scans, you are not allergic to them."

"Thank you... um... Mary." Katrina said, bobbing her head. "And yes, I like eggs."

"Did you do your special?" Nyx asked, her eyes alight. Mary nodded with a wide smile and Nyx moaned in pleasure. 'You are in for a treat, Katrina. Mary makes omelets that you wouldn't believe."

"How do you get eggs here?" Katrina asked as she opened her platter and indeed, a large fluffy omelet became visible. "Oh my..." She said with a smile as she inhaled the aroma. She reached for her fork.

"They are not really eggs." Mary said with a shrug. "Or at least... they never came from a hen." Katrina froze, her fork halfway to her mouth and Mary shook her head. "Go ahead, try it. Let me know if I got the spices right." Katrina took the bite, chewed and then her face lit up. Mary smiled back. "Good?"

"Best omelet I have ever had." Katrina said with awe. "But... not real eggs?"

"They are real." Mary said with a grimace. "I wouldn't put _fake_ things into my cooking." Nyx snorted and Mary waved a finger at her. "You hush."

"I didn't say a word!" Nyx protested but her grin was even wider now. Katrina, Eric and Jack all smiled at the byplay. Mary ignored her, focusing on Katrina.

"In most respects the eggs I use _are_ real eggs, but not from a hen. I don't totally understand all the tech." Mary said with a shrug. "You would have to ask Nikky about some of it, she is the biochemical wiz. Me? I'm just a physicist." Nyx sputtered and Mary growled at her half heartedly. "I said _hush!_"

"This is really good, Ma'- uh, Mary..." Katrina corrected herself with a smile as she swallowed another bite. "Doesn't taste synthetic at all."

"Good." Mary replied with a grin. "I think I am going to _like_ having you around. I always enjoy cooking for people who appreciate real food as opposed to whatever is handy to stuff your face with." She growled at Nyx who raised her hands in a warding gesture. "But for now, I need to get back to the lab. And Nyx..." Her face turned serious. "I am going tonight." The three teenagers stared as Nyx rose from her place to step to Mary. The human looking woman put her arms around the warframe and Nyx returned the embrace gently.

"_Going?_" Katrina asked, worried.

"I am going before Hayden." Mary said quietly. "My tests are done and I want to do it before my son or I will _never_ hear the end of it."

"You are going to take a..." Katrina gulped, her fork hanging loose.

"I will still be _me_, Katrina." Mary said with a sad smile. "Just a different name and new abilities. As long as you appreciate good cooking, I will cook for you."

"Thank you." Katrina paused, then set down her fork and rose from her chair. "May... May I?"

"I don't bite, Katrina." Mary said, extricating herself from Nyx who chortled. "_Hush!_" She commanded and the woman in the warframe subsided. Katrina stepped close, hugged Mary and then retreated.

"Good luck." Katrina said softly.

"Eat that before it gets cold." Nyx said with a nod to Mary as she knelt again. "It would be a crime to let it go to waste. You know I appreciate your cooking, Mary." She said in a hurt tone.

"I know." Mary said with a sigh. "It's _Mag_ who makes me want to strangle her. Silly. 'Just give me MREs'..." This time, Mary's growl was not feigned.

"She does it to get a rise out of you, sister." Nyx said with a shrug.

"I know." Mary replied. "And I give her what she wants. Ah well, see if I cook for _her_ ever again." She said with a laugh. "I will have a good breakfast ready for you all when you wake." Jack, Eric and Katrina looked at one another and spoke in unison.

"Thank you, Mary." The three teenagers chorused. Mary smiled, bowed from the neck, and left the room. The three looked at each other and went back to eating.

"How often do people 'assume the burden' as you put it?" Jack asked after a moment.

"Mary has been here for ten years." Nyx said quietly. "But she has a lot of other things on her mind. Frost was here for five, he came after his enlistment with the Russian Army ran out. Nikky and Kareena are almost ready as well, you haven't met them yet. You also haven't met Conner, Mary's son. He is...about your age, but..." She slumped a bit. "He had a hard childhood. So he is not the most sociable of people."

"Was he the Chinese boy that you showed the UN?" Eric asked, his face slightly green.

"No." Nyx replied, her face sad. "Conner is Mary's son. Ling is the boy we showed the UN and he... well... He is mess."

"I am not surprised." Katrina was eating slowly now. "I am surprised he has lasted this long." She said with a gulp.

"As you may have noticed, Katrina, Lynn is a _bit_ determined. She will do anything she can to help that poor boy. What happened to Ling was horrible." Nyx agreed. "And that is one of the things we are fighting against. The virus that made us, the first of us anyway, is a horrid fate. And people just cannot seem to stop playing with it." Her tone was harsh now and she took a moment to calm down. "Sorry..." She said to the three wide eyes teens. "I get a bit...annoyed about that."

"You were in Lasria." Eric said softly. "You were infected there?"

"No." Nyx replied. "I was infected in a clandestine bioweapons lab _after_ Lasria." All three teens gulped in unison. "Go on." Nyx said quietly. "Finish your supper."

The rest of the meal was in silence. Katrina cleaned her plate off and then stacked her dishes and utensils neatly. Then she paused.

"Do we clean these?" Katrina asked, looking at the neat piles in front of her, and the less neat piles in front of Jack and Eric.

"What?" Nyx asked severely, but her eyes were twinkling. "Do you really thing we have staffs of servants who fetch and carry, clean and mend for us?" The three teens didn't have a clue how to respond to that and Nyx laughed. "As a matter of fact, we _do_." She clapped her hands and a door opened on a wall nearby. A squat form rolled out of the opening. It was about half the size of a human and had tracks instead of wheels or legs. It moved to the table avoiding the children who jumped back . It scooped all of the cups, dishes and utensils onto a tray and beeped at Nyx who smiled. "Thank you, A-12." It beeped again and left the same way it had come.

"A robot?" Eric asked, awed.

"A drone." Nyx agreed. "A...friend built them to give us a hand with various things." Nyx felt her throat close up, Irina had loved tinkering with robotics. "They are not sentient, but... they are fairly smart. They respond better to courtesy. Don't take them for granted, we don't have a lot of them or any means of reproducing them since the one who made them...died. But we can use them to help out with things."

"You knew the one who made them." Katrina said softly. Nyx nodded. "I am sorry."

"Yeah, well..." Nyx shook herself and rose. "You all ready for bed?" Katrina nodded, and the boys did a moment later. "This is the eating and common room for you all." Nyx said, waving her hands around. "Three doors. One to the corridor, which in secured and monitored. Don't explore without permission." She said sternly. "If you want to look around, we can and will let you. But not without permission. We have had people try to spy on us. It didn't work out so well for them, but we are _all_ we can trust. Don't make us distrust you, please?" She begged.

"I won't." Katrina said softly and the boys nodded.

"Good." Nyx said with a smile. "Two dormitories. We had thirty four crash survivors here a year ago..." She broke off as Eric inhaled. "Yes?"

"_You_ saved those people who crashed!" Eric almost gushed. "That was all over the news! Everyone said they couldn't have made it from the crash site to the polar station on foot. And their wounds had been treated!"

"That is neither here nor there, Eric." Nyx said, her tone mild. "We do not do what we do for acclaim, fame or any other kind of reward."

"You do it because you must." Katrina said in a very soft voice. Nyx nodded.

"Yes, we do." Nyx agreed. "And right now, you all, must _sleep_." She waved to one door. "Male dormitory there. You will find fresh sheets on two of the bunks and fresh towels in the washroom. In a couple of days we will have private quarters set up for all three of you, but for now, this will serve."

"I doubt you have roaches." Eric said with a shiver that Jack shared as they moved to the door. "Ah, when will we get up?"

"I will be in to get you up." Nyx said gently. "Rest well." Jack bowed to her and a moment later, Eric did as well. They went through the door, leaving Katrina to stare at the other door. "Come on..." Nyx said to Katrina, starting for the door.

"Uh..." Katrina followed, clearly confused. She paused at the door as Nyx entered. The room was large and laid out with multiple bunk beds. One, near the door, had sheets on it. "I could stay with the guys." Katrina said dubiously.

"You could." Nyx agreed. "But we don't want you three...distracted by...um... how shall I say it? Gender differences?"

"I shared a room with them in Buenos Aires." Katrina protested, but it lacked force. "They were...well, they looked but nothing else."

"If teenage boys _didn't_ look, I would be worried about them." Nyx said with a laugh. Then she sobered. "But I have another reason." Katrina looked at her and Nyx's voice turned super gentle. "How long were you in Buenos Aires before you met them?" Katrina froze and Nyx held out a hand. "I am not going to censure you. I am not going to berate you for doing what you had to, to survive, Katrina. How long?"

"Six months..." Katrina said with a whimper as she sat down heavily on the bed. "I... I didn't want to... the money ran out and... I..." She shook herself savagely. "How did you know?"

"You had Syphilis, Katrina." Nyx said gently, moving to sit beside the girl. "You don't now." Katrina started crying and Nyx held her gently. "It's over, Katrina. You are free." She held the sobbing girl while Katrina calmed herself. "You are clean now and will stay that way. Lynn will want to talk to you later about follow up tests. It can be insidious." Katrina curled up a bit and Nyx let her cling. "I can only imagine what you went through." Nyx said sadly. "But that is why I am not going to leave you alone. I know the feelings that come from helplessness and powerlessness. I know them well."

"Oh Nyx!" Katrina hugged the Tenno tight. "Do you think that is where that thing that was in my gut came from?" Katrina asked after a moment.

"I don't know." Nyx admitted. "But no matter what, you have a place here. We are not going to send you away. We can very strict, but we neither capricious nor cruel. If we have rules, they are there for a reason. If you break the rules, you will be punished."

"Jack..." Katrina swallowed, focusing herself ."Jack is going to push. It's how he is."

"I figured." Nyx said quietly. "We won't kill him, Katrina." She gave the girl a gentle hug and then rose. "Take a shower, you will feel better. "

"Do I need to...um...wear this..." Katrina poked her hips with a look of distaste. "While I sleep?"

"You might want to get a new one. " Nyx said after a moment's thought. "We stocked them in the washroom for you. Just in case. If you haven't had an accident before tomorrow morning, you likely won't. But for tonight, better safe than sorry."

"Probably for the best." Katrina admitted a bit sheepishly, then rose and went to the door marked 'shower' in several languages without a word. She turned back, smiled at Nyx and went in. Nyx let her go. Katrina needed to build back her self esteem and some independence would help to do that.

_Nyx?_ Lynn's voice came to Nyx's mind after a few minutes. _Is she okay? She is crying in the shower._

_Give her a few minutes, doc. _ Nyx said calmly. _I just freed her from her past. She is going to be a bit... emotional. Did you figure out what the capsule was?_

_It was a rolled up sheet of plastic, coated in a substance that resisted stomach acids._ Lynn said, her mental voice dubious. _It only had an image on it. The image of a Lotus._

_A __**Lotus**__?_ Nyx asked, incredulous. _Why a __**Lotus**__?_

_No idea. _Lynn admitted. _Hayden will investigate, but it may take a while._

_No problem. _ Nyx said as Katrina came out of the washroom clad in a gray sleeping robe. _I have this._ She patted the bed beside her and Katrina sat and then lay down. Nyx pulled the light sheet over the girl and then, on impulse, kissed the girl's forehead. "Good night, Katrina."

"Nyx?" Katrina asked drowsily. "Thank you."

"Rest well. I am here." Nyx said, kneeling by the bed to watch and wait. She didn't doubt the girl would have nightmares. But this was her job now. To take care of her new kin. Katrina smiled and was quickly asleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**Impatience**

"Yes, Katrina?" Nyx asked gently as she looked up from her work when Katrina made a soft noise.

"I have finished the latest chapter, Nyx." Katrina said, kneeling in front of Nyx. "I have...questions..."

"That is one reason I am here." Nyx said with a nod a she banished her holographic screen and keyboard. "To answer questions or help you find your own answers."

It had been just under a year since the three teenagers hand landed in Nyx's lap and she was both amazed and humbled by the changes in her charges. Katrina had...well... blossomed was a good word for it. She was growing up and the boys were taking notice. Eric was forming into a dedicated young man who was going to be a heck of a swordsman someday. He was already out of the novice classes taught by a special instructor that Hayden had found and recruited. Nyx had no idea _where_ Hayden had found a master of Ninjitsu who was willing to move to Antarctica and didn't the guts to ask.

Master Shima was Japanese and a consummate professional. He taught many different weapons, including the sword which Nyx was studying. His style wasn't any specific thing, he had staves, swords, spears, and even odder weapons, including a copy of Hayden's Glaive. It was not as capable as Hayden's, but it was still a vicious weapon. But the training didn't stop with melee weapons. Master Shima taught all kinds of weapons in the course of his classes, throwing knives, pistols, and long guns as well, stating that if it worked, it worked. Eric had thrown himself into study of swordplay to the extent that others had to force him to study other things. Jack... was a handful.

The boy was gifted, no question. He was also insubordinate and more than a bit pigheaded on occasion. Nyx saw things in Jack that frankly scared her. He had serious anger management issues. He had been punished three times in the last year for violating curfew and other infractions. Hayden worked to keep him busy and that seemed to help, but the boy was pushing and would continue to. Nyx knew that sooner or later, it would come to a confrontation of some kind, the boy's mind simply could not accept any other way. He had to be alpha of the pack, and if he couldn't be, he had to keep pushing the current alpha. Which was dumb, but then again, he was still a teenager ruled by his hormones. And since Katrina wasn't interested in him, mainly because she was fixating on Eric...

It was going to be a problem. Probably soon. But for now, Nyx focused on the class.

The school that the Tenno had set up was...different in so many ways. Each student was different, so each lesson plan had to be different. Unlike some places who seemed to think that gifted students should be held back to keep all in line, the Tenno believed in pushing people to their limits. Katrina in particular excelled with that approach. Of course, _where_ she had gone to school initially had not helped. The education system in the United States had been a sick joke since the turn of the 21st century. 'No Child Left Behind' had become _'Every_ Child Stuck In The Same Gutter'. Private schooling had improved somewhat, but the public school system had languished until it had become more desirable for parents to give their children to _street gangs_ or sell them into _slavery_ than to submit them to the horrors of the public education system. And if you didn't have money for private education? You were screwed. The Tenno refused to operate like that. If you could learn, they let you.

Nyx looked around quickly, but Jack and Eric were engrossed in their lessons. Kneeling in seiza had been hard for them to learn, but after nearly a year with the Tenno, it was second nature. The two boys were kneeling, their fingers flying over their own holographic keyboards as they focused on their holoscreens. It looked like Jack had managed to subdivide his screen yet again, Nyx noticed. Four screens were hard to keep track of at once, but multi-tasking was an important part of operating a warframe. Even with neural linkages, it was...daunting on occasion. She smiled at that as she looked at Eric, who was also totally engrossed in his own lessons. Then she turned back to Katrina who knelt silently.

"What seems to be the problem, Katrina?" Nyx asked quietly.

"It's not a problem, per say." Katrina said, feeling each word out carefully before speaking. "I know my perspective is skewed. But I am not sure how."

"Fair enough." Nyx agreed. "I know my own point of view is skewed. Everyone has some bias no matter how they try not to be. But I was raised in Lasria, part of what was the USSR."

"Lasria." Katrina said softly. "You told us about that. What was it like...before?"

"Before the plague?" Nyx sighed and shook her head. "It was a nice quiet, _small_ country that had the dubious distinction of being invaded by the Germans during World War II and then absorbed by the Russians after." She shrugged. "It was home."

"I don't mean to recall bad memories." Katrina said softly. "But... Wasn't Lasria affected by World War I?"

"Not so much." Nyx said with a nod. "They were neutral and...well... The Germans wanted to fight the Russians and French, and Lasria was on the Baltic coast, far from the main lines of contention. Apparently most of the insanity missed them. _That_ time anyway." She said darkly. "What was your question?"

"I am very confused." Katrina admitted. "I grew up believing in the United States. In the... I don't know... cultural arrogance that the United States espoused?" Nyx nodded, but let Katrina gather her thoughts. "I mean... I wasn't born until after 9/11 but... Did President Bush _ever_ admit he didn't have a reason to invade Iraq?"

"Heads of governments are not held to the same standards regular individuals are, Katrina. They can lie flat out and get away with it." Nyx said quietly. "Whether he was right or wrong, history will judge, probably many, many years from now. I have opinions of course. Everyone does. But we were not there. We do not have all the information. My own _personal_ opinion is that he wanted to show the world that he could do what his dad couldn't. Topple Saddam Hussein. But I don't know. I am almost 100% sure George W. Bush's cabinet egged him on, his Vice President in a need for his corporate masters to profit and his Secretary of Defense because the man was a very smart _idiot_." Katrina smiled at Nyx's vehemence.

"I see." Katrina sighed. "Most of what I learned in school was propaganda, wasn't it? They paint a very different picture."

"It is always easy to second guess, with the benefit of hindsight." Nyx said gently. "We know _now_ that if there _were_ weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that they were not ready to be deployed against American troops as certain people insinuated at the time. But at the time?"

"I...see..." Katrina said a bit dubiously. "So we should know these things, but not be blinkered by them?"

"Exactly." Nyx said encouraging. "If you want a serious case of propaganda not being the truth, look at the predecessor to the man you question." Katrina winced and Nyx nodded again. "You learned about the scandal and impeachment. Did you know he brokered peace talks between Israel and her neighbors?" Katrina stared at Nyx and shook her head. "Did you know he tried, very hard, to keep from involving America in messy foreign wars?"

"Didn't succeed." Katrina said in an undertone.

"No, he didn't." Nyx agreed sadly. "He ignored genocide when it happened and blundered badly in many places due to not wanting to seem 'imperialistic' or something. The rise of Al Qaeda is pretty much laid on his doorstep due to his cutbacks in funding to the military and intelligence agencies." She waved a finger at Katrina. "Do _not_ ask Hayden about Clinton unless you are ready to listen to an hour or two of rants. Hayden was just joining the CIA the time, and the stories he has... Ugh..." Nyx shivered dramatically.

"I...won't..." Katrina said with a gulp. "Master Hayden is scary enough."

"Yes he is." Nyx agreed. "So basically, keep an open mind and think about the situations, not just what the media was saying. We have enough problems without worrying about public opinion." Katrina nodded soberly.

There was a rising movement in many places. A movement against the Tenno. It wasn't...rational. It was more a directed form of prejudice than any overt acts. After all, _attacking_ the Tenno didn't work out so well for people. But it was pervasive. No country seemed to be behind it, it had happened in places as disparate as London, England, Kiev, Russia and Tokyo, Japan. It didn't happen every time Tenno went into the field, but every so often, if they were seen, a mob would form. The few times that Tenno had been in the field and confronted by mobs, the Tenno in question had simply vanished, often running up walls to escape, leaving the mob to stare at where they had been. Even Mag had given the fanatics the slip instead of crushing a few of them into teacup sized souvenirs. The others? Well...

Mary, Conner, Nikky and Kareena had all assumed their burdens. Mary had become 'Ember', to no one's great surprise. Conner had taken the name 'Ash' both for his mother and due to the fact that he was about as visible as a piece of ash. The mobs never saw him. Nikky had taken then name 'Saryn'. She was downright frightening at times, but a soft heart lay underneath that horrific looking warframe. It was Kareena that literally gave Nyx nightmares on occasion. Anyone who would _willingly_ touch antimatter... Small wonder Kareena had taken the name 'Nova'. Big boom. Only _once_ had someone actually tried to fight her. A full company of mercenary troops had attacked her team as they had taken down a bio-weapon lab in Central America. About 200 heavily armed and armored troops versus Nova. Ash had been busy setting demolition charges. The fight hadn't taken very long at all. The pieces had been... small. The mobs left her alone for some funny reason. Nyx didn't blame them actually. She shook herself out of her reverie to see Katrina staring at her.

"Nyx?" Katrina asked, worried. "You okay?"

"No." Nyx said sadly. "I... I have somewhere to go to-..." She paused. What day was it? She froze as she checked her calendar. She had _missed_ the day to visit her aunt's grave. "I..." She shook herself. "Actually, no. I don't. I am okay, Katrina. Just sad. Yesterday was five years since my aunt died."

"Oh, Nyx." Katrina said sadly. "I am sorry. The others have told me about her."

"Well..." Nyx sighed. "She would slap me upside the head for moping." She said with a sad chuckle. "Any other questions?"

"I have one." Jack said with a growl from where he had finished his lesson. Nyx looked at him and he actually snarled. "When are you going to quit holding us back?"

"Holding you back?" Nyx asked slowly. She had been expecting this. "You _really_ think that is what we are doing?" She tilted her head to the side, scrutinizing him. Jack flushed and snarled.

"I am ready." Jack declared. Eric and Katrina both froze. For her part, Nyx just sat there. "Didn't you hear me? I am ready!"

"You think you are ready." Nyx said in a slow and careful voice. "_We_ don't."

"You mean _you_ don't!" Jack snapped.

"Jack!" Eric said urgently as Katrina seemed to wilt, both of them ignored in the confrontation between Nyx and Jack. "Don't be a fool!"

"Jack..." Katrina begged.

"Stay out of this, lovebirds!" Jack snapped, rising. "I am _sick_ of being held back!"

"We are not holding you back, Jack." Nyx said calmly. "_You_ are."

"You lie!" Jack snapped, his ire fully up. "I have studied everything you have on file. Everything! You just don't want to let me go any further! You are scared of me!" Katrina quailed and Eric went pale at that, but Jack didn't back down as Nyx shook her head.

"Jack, calm down." Nyx said quietly. "We can discuss this. Preferably in private."

"So you can twist my mind, Little Miss Mind Control?" Jack snapped.

"Jack..." Nyx shook her head. "Angering me is a bad idea." She said slowly. "Even Mag does it in jest, not for real. Don't push it. If you have a problem, we can discuss it. But not her and not now."

"You think I am scared of you, Miss Ice Queen?" Jack said derisively. "You won't hurt me. You haven't got the guts! You lost whatever edge you had, buried it out on the snow with..." He trailed off as Nyx rose.

"You are angry and not thinking clearly." Nyx said calmly. "Jack, take a deep breath. Calm down. Please."

"Why should I?" Jack snapped. "You are all scared of me! Why should I do what you say?"

"Scared?" Nyx said softly. "A bit, yes. _Of_ you? No." She shook her head. "_For_ you, Jack." Nyx said quietly, her fists clenching at her sides. "We are all scared _for_ you."

"_Why?_" Jack screamed. "I am strong enough! I can handle it!" He paused as Nyx's helmet opened and she was crying!

"That is what the insane docs who had him thought about _Ling_, Jack." Jack opened his mouth to retort and Nyx's hand came up, wreathed in green fire. "Be. Silent." She said in a almost calm tone. Almost.

Katrina stared ashen faced at her friend and mentor. This was not a Nyx she knew. This woman radiated power and lethality. Nyx shook her head as she stalked toward the still form of Jack who was frozen in place, his mouth hanging open.

"You think it's about _strength_?" Nyx asked softly, a purr of a predator. "About _education_? If it was about strength, _Frost_ would have been able to join the day he arrived. He was and_ is_ stronger than any two of us, Hayden included! As for _smarts_? Lynn is smarter than any _three_ of us! Nova, Saryn and Ember are close to her level but not quite there." Nyx snapped, her own anger as cold as Antarctic winter. "You study, but you do not _learn_. You listen, but you do not _hear_. You _think_ you understand, but you have no _clue_. Let me show you why." She laid a gentle hand against Jack's frozen cheek and smiled at him and his eyes went wide with terror. "Let me show you..." Nyx purred as power flowed from her hand.

"Nyx!" A shout from the door had the others turning to see Hayden standing there, his face unarmored and shocked. "No!"

Jack screamed, a loud, long sound of pain and fear. Then he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cuts. Nyx stared at the limp form at her feet, than at her hand. She seemed to wilt a bit, her face...suddenly childlike.

"I..." Nyx shook her head as she recoiled. "No..." Hayden went to his knees beside the still form of Jack and breathed a sigh of relief. "Is he...?"

"He is alive, Nyx." Hayden said quietly. "We will get him to Lynn. Nyx..." He said as Nyx started shaking her head. "It's okay."

"I... I used my power...in anger..." Nyx shook her head and continued to recoil until she fetched up against the wall. "...on someone who wasn't an enemy... I..."

"If anyone deserved it, he did." Eric said slowly as he stepped up to where Katrina stood frozen, layign an arm over her shoulder.

"That is... not the point, Eric..." Nyx said, still shaking her head. "I broke the Code... Master Hayden..." Her mouth twitched between a frown and a grimace. "I broke the Code."

"Nyx, it's not like that." Hayden said gently. "You were provoked and you didn't kill him."

"_I broke the code, Hayden!_" Nyx screamed. Katrina moved to close and Nyx held up a quick hand. "No... Don't..." She begged Katrina.

"My friend... My sister..." Katrina said softly. "...is hurting. How can I not help after all the help you have given me?"

"You can't help me, Katrina." Nyx said sadly as her helmet snapped shut. "I am...lost."

"Nyx...no..." Hayden said quickly. "Don't. We can work it out. We _will_ punish you."

"Jack is a kid, Master Hayden. A hurt kid with anger management issues." Nyx said, slowly sinking to her knees, crossing her legs. She bowed her head as she crossed her arms. "If I can hurt him just because of some childish insults... I can hurt _anyone_." She began to summon power and felt the floor vanish from under her, her power bouying her up. "I am...unworthy of the name Tenno."

"Clear the room" Hayden said softly. "Nyx, stand down." He commanded.

"I cannot obey that order, Master Hayden." Nyx said sadly. "I am sorry, but I cannot." She jerked as a mass slammed into her. A sobbing mass. Katrina! "Katrina! No! Let go!"

"No!" Katrina snapped. "Not like this, sister!"

"Katrina!" Nyx begged. "Let go! It is reaching critical mass! When it does, it will kill me _and_ you!"

"You are not evil." Katrina snapped. "You won't kill me for loving you, will you?" She asked holding on tighter. "You are my sister and you saved me. Now I save you."

"No..." Nyx pleaded, holding the power in as tight as she could. "Get off! Katrina! No!"

Nyx's psychic power exploded from her, but she somehow managed to pull it back in before it could do more than singe Katrina. But then, it had nowhere to go. But Nyx had to hold it, so she did. Then, somehow, it was all pulled form her. For a moment, it tingled, then it burned. Then the fire became an inferno. The last thing she heard before passing out was her own scream of pain.


	25. Chapter 25

**Regrets**

Nyx was floating. Then she was lying on something soft. But... a breeze wafted over her face and she stared up at...the branches of a tree? Nyx felt very light. She was not all there. But the tree looked like something she remembered. She stared up at the sky through the branches of the tree. But... that was..wrong, wasn't it? Her mind wasn't working as it should, and she felt fear, but a gentle feeling wafted through her. She was comforted by whatever it was. Then, she slept.

She woke several times, scared. But gentle hands and soft words soothed her back to sleep. She couldn't -quite- make out the words, but the feeling that came with them were crystal clear. Worry, fear, sadness, love. Stern voices, sad voices, upset voices, and then comforting voices all blurred together.

It came as a bit of a shock when she woke and things were clear. She found herself lying on a bed in the medical ward, various systems attached to her armor. She slumped a bit, but a sour voice had her stiffening again.

"Don't start." Mag was not happy. Nyx's eyes jerked to the side where a familiar form was leaning against the wall. Mag wore her full warframe. "You gonna lie there all day?" Nyx stared at her sister and shook her head. "Good." The other Tenno said quietly.

"How long?" Nyx asked softly.

"Eight hours." Mag said with a nod. "We drained you pretty thoroughly."

"I..." Nyx swallowed heavily. "Oh crap... I lost my temper...Jack..."

"Idiot boy is fine." Mag said with a snarl ."If he had pushed me the way he pushed _you,_ I would have broken him in half, not just shown him what Ling suffered. He has been...remarkably subdued." Mag said with a sour laugh. "Bets on how long that lasts?"

"I shouldn't have done that." Nyx said softly. "He made me angry...but... I shouldn't have done that."

"Nyx..." Mag's insolent manner vanished as worry sounded. "He was going to keep pushing until he got a rise from you. It is what he _does_."

"I was responsible for him. _Am_ responsible for him..." Nyx said, sitting up. "Katrina? Eric?"

"Eric obeyed orders and ran, the only smart kid there. Katrina wasn't even singed, but she _was_ shocked that you nearly extinguished yourself." Mag said with a snarl. "Talk about an _overreaction_." She snapped.

"I broke the Code, Mag." Nyx said swinging her legs off the bed. Or, she tried. When she did, a wave of dizziness swept through her and she slumped back to the bed. "What the...?"

"You are not going anywhere until we talk, Nyx." Mag said with a snarl. "You scared the _hell_ out of me, sis. Don't do that."

"What have you done?" Nyx asked, noticing a small device in Mag's hand that glinted ominously. Mag raised it and it flashed. Nyx felt even fainter. "I... Mag... Please."

"No." Mag said with a snarl. "You are not rational. You are not a _samurai_. You are not some kind of brainless fool, Nyx. You are Tenno. You do not have the _right_ to kill yourself without Master Hayden's permission, which he refused." She said with a growl that almost covered the hurt.

"_Master_...Hayden?" Nyx said, stunned. Mag was always insolent, always insubordinate. She rarely called Hayden anything but 'Hayden'. "What the hell happened?"

"You got dumb. He took command." Mag said with a shrug. "I...may disagree with a lot of the ceremonial folderol, but he took command and is _in_ command." She sighed. "If he hadn't... I would have tossed that fool out on his keister in the snow. Probably naked."

"It's not Jack's fault, Mag." Nyx protested. "He doesn't know any better."

"Correction: He _didn't_ know any better." Mag said snidely. "Now he does. He will be helping the medics tend Ling for the next six months or so." Nyx felt her eyes widen under her helmet as Mag chuckled evilly. "Ready my fanny." Nyx raised a hand and Mag raised her odd device again. "Don't even think about it." She said smartly as Nyx sank back again, drained.

"Mag." Nyx said cautiously. "I need to..."

"_You_ need to sit there and think about what you nearly did." Mag retorted. "You summoned your power to _kill_ yourself. If not for Katrina delaying you long enough for me to get there with Lynn, you would have." Was Mag crying? "You... You..." She was!

"Mag." Nyx said quietly. "I cannot act that way. I cannot use my powers in anger. I could have torn Jack's mind apart without even trying. You know this."

"You didn't." Mag replied. "I wouldn't have been nearly so nice. Nyx?" She begged. "What would _Irina_ say?"

"She wouldn't say a _word_." Nyx said, dazed. "She would just kick my butt."

"She isn't here to do it anymore." Mag said softly. "But I promised her that if you needed it, I _would_." Nyx felt her eyes go wide under her helmet and Mag snorted. "You think you are the only one she talked to?"

"No." Nyx said softly. " I know you and she worked on the drones together." She readied herself and Mag sighed.

"You dumb brat." Mag snapped as Nyx rolled off her bed. Something she couldn't define hit her and darkness claimed her.

Again, she was lying on a yielding surface and looking up at the branches of a tree. It was familiar, that tree. A symbol was carved on the bark. A Lotus. Where had Nyx seen that? She racked her brain, but it was fuzzy. A male voice spoke to her, but she could not understand the words. Or...something. It didn't make sense. The branches of the tree were waving as if in the wind, but there wasn't any. Was there? She looked around, but didn't see anything but a grassy clearing and the tree. Everything else was shrouded in an odd gray golden color. She felt herself fading and the male voice spoke urgently, but she was gone before she could understand it.

* * *

When Nyx could see again, she was lying on the bed, and her armor had vanished. She was still in the medical ward. She was clad in a patient gown and her arms were strapped to her sides. A straitjacket. Her mind was clear, but... She couldn't focus on anything but Hayden. One of Lynn's drugs of some kind probably. Hayden sat nearby, his armor still on, but his helmet undone. His face was sad.

"Hello Nyx." Hayden said, his voice kind. "You going to fight?" She shook her head, silent. "The silent treatment won't work, Nyx. Talk to me. I am not leaving until you do."

"I lost my temper." Nyx said softly.

"If you had lost your temper, that boy's mind would be _mush_." Hayden corrected her. "You got irritated and showed him why he wasn't ready. Don't really blame you after I heard what he said. I figured it wouldn't be long."

"You _planned_ this?" Nyx asked, incredulous, then clamped her mouth shut.

"Not _this_ per say." Hayden replied easily. "I knew he was going to push harder. All Jack has known, all his life, was bullies. Bigger and bigger bullies. He thought we were like all the other people he has dealt with in his life." Nyx shook her head and Hayden sighed. "Nyx, we understand each other. He _doesn't_."

"Not his fault." Nyx said softly.

"No." Hayden agreed sadly. "I blame the society where he grew up. Money is all. Money knows all. Money makes everything better." He scoffed. "If you have money, you are someone. If you don't?" He shrugged.

"I overreacted." Nyx said in a monotone.

"I'll say you did." Hayden said sternly. "You scared the _hell_ out of me, Nyx. And you made Katrina soil herself. If Mag hadn't been as close as she was... That energy would have fried you when you pulled it back in to keep from hurting Katrina. She kept you from exploding and it nearly killed you anyway."

"I have been trying to stay neutral." Nyx said sadly. "I have been trying to hold tight to my honor. I... He..." She started to cry. "I didn't..."

"I know." Hayden said sadly, pulling out a cloth and wiping Nyx's face gently. "Shima-san blames himself for filling you all with the tales of samurai, shinobi, the 47 Ronin and all. But it isn't his fault any more than yours. We are _not_ samurai, Nyx. We can never _be_ samurai. We are not Japanese, and samurai ceased to be a _long_ time before any of us were born. We may honor part of their Bushido Code, but: We. Are. Not. Samurai." He said sternly.

"I know." Nyx said softly. "I was just so scared. I... I saw him, lying there... so cold and still... I thought I had killed him. Or permanently injured him."

"You didn't." Hayden said softly. "You scared him and _now_, he does understand _why_ he is not ready. Which is an improvement."

"You have to punish me." Nyx said softly.

"Oh, I will." Hayden said with a nod. "But..." He shook his head a bit. "This is also partly my responsibility. You were never a teacher, Nyx." Nyx started to protest and Hayden shushed her with a small hand motion. "Hear me out." He said quietly and she hushed. "You did a marvelous job with Eric and Katrina. But you were a student, Nyx, not a teacher. You were never trained as a teacher. You learned fast and never made the same mistakes twice, so I kept you on the job far longer than I should have."

"No." Nyx said, swallowing hard. "It's not your fault."

"No." Hayden agreed. "Jack the one at fault, for pushing you. But it is my responsibility. You need a break from teaching. I should have given you one months ago. That _is_ my fault."

"No." Nyx said, her eyes burning. "Everyone else was busy. I didn't mind."

"That doesn't matter, Nyx." Hayden said softly. "I have been slacking. Than ends now." He took a deep breath and spoke in a commanding tone. "Are you going to try and take your own life, Nyx?"

"No." Nyx replied softly. "I was...irrational. I don't know what I was thinking. I saw him...lying there...and..." She felt wetness on her cheeks again and Hayden wiped her face with his cloth again. "I could have fried his mind, or ordered him to run out the door and off a cliff naked."

"No." Hayden said quietly. "You wouldn't have." She stared at Hayden and he shrugged. "Nyx, you are quite probably the single most ethical person I have ever met in my life. You could have hurt him. Mag, Ember, Ash, or I _would_ have hurt him. Nova and Frost I am not sure about, but them too probably. You _didn't_."

"He screamed." Nyx's voice was tiny.

"You showed him what Ling and Miang went through from their points of view." Hayden said gently. "_You_ screamed when you touched Miang's mind the first time. And you _fainted_ when you touched Ling's. After what Jack said to you, _anyone_ would be angry. You showed him why he wasn't ready. In a bad way, mind you..." Hayden said with a sigh. "But you didn't hurt him. He hurt _himself_. He brought it on himself."

"It was still wrong." Nyx said sadly.

"Yes it was." Hayden agreed. "You are going to apologize to Katrina, Eric _and_ Jack." Nyx nodded and then Hayden grimaced. "Then I need you to do something for me. Something you are _really_ not going to like."

"Much of what we are consist of things I don't like." Nyx replied calmly. "What do you need?"

"I have been looking for leads on the symbol that was on the piece of plastic in Katrina's gut." Hayden said slowly. "I have seen it before." Nyx's eyes went wide.

"You have?" Nyx asked, incredulous. "Where?"

"Only one place." Hayden said heavily. "Lasria." At that, Nyx went still and Hayden nodded. "When I met Yargo during the mess there, he gave me his Hero of the Soviet Union medal to show to an...'acquaintance' of his. One who ran a black market."

"He told me some of that." Nyx said slowly. "An...odd man who lived in the sewers?" She asked.

"Yes." Hayden said with a nod. "Thing was, everywhere that man had an entrance to his market, a Lotus was painted on a wall somewhere nearby."

"The same image?" Nyx asked, feeling faint.

"I have spent the last year looking for the image elsewhere." Hayden said with a sigh. "No dice. I was planning to go myself but things...got busy."

"Busy. Yes." Nyx said slowly. "You think the increase in idiots playing with the virus and the image are related?"

"Yes." Hayden replied. "Somehow. No idea how."

"And you want me to go to Lasria..." Nyx said, her face working. "To do what? Find this man?"

"I think he was Intelligence." Hayden said with a shrug. "He had access to things that no black marketeer should have had. But with Irina...gone, Russian Intelligence likely won't talk to us."

"Frost might know someone." Nyx said slowly, but then she shook her head. "No... No, he burned his bridges, didn't he?" You didn't generally leave the Spetznatz easily. When you simply walked away and told your superiors who were demanding that you re-enlist to quote 'screw off' end quote... Well...

"He did. I have a few contacts left." Hayden said with a nod. "Old ones, but they should still be around. I am going to send Frost to Moscow. I am sending you to Lasria." Nyx nodded, silent. "If I had anyone else to send, Nyx, I would. But you know the land. You speak the language."

"I _did_ but it has been some time." Nyx said dubiously. "What do you want me to do when I get there? Look for Lotuses on walls?"

"Yes, but not overtly if you can help it." Hayden said with a nod. "We want to keep a low profile. I haven't heard of any anti-Tenno sentiment surfacing in that area, and I want to keep it that way if we can." He rose, stepped to the bed and started undoing the straps that bound Nyx. "You will apologize to the others before you go." This was a command.

"As you wish, Master Hayden." Nyx said softly, not moving as he finished releasing her.

"How do you feel?" Hayden asked as he helped her sit up. "Mag's disabler hit you hard."

"Tired." Nyx admitted. Indeed, it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

"Okay." Hayden said with a sigh. "I need time to set up your transportation anyway. You will sleep here tonight." It was _not_ a suggestion. Nyx nodded. "Tomorrow morning, you will meet the others for breakfast. Then you go."

"As you wish." Nyx said quietly, laying back on the suddenly very soft bed. She was sinking rapidly into...

* * *

Nyx jerked. What the hell? She was lying on grass, under a tree and someone was lying beside her. She didn't know the man. Did she? He looked...Chinese but wore a skin tight green bodysuit.

"Hello Nyx." The man said gently. "There is nothing to fear. We are not enemies."

"You look like people who have proven to be my enemies." Nyx said, trying to rise, but she couldn't. "What the...?"

"This is not real, Nyx." The man said with a deep sigh. "I am sorry, I don't have full control. She... She wasn't able to give me full control...before..." His face turned sad.

"What are you talking about?" Nyx asked, amazed that she wasn't afraid or angry.

"I am...not entirely sure to tell you the truth." The man at her side said with a grimace. "Much of my memory was...damaged or lost. It took her some time to reassemble me. What she could anyway."

"I don't understand." Nyx said with a snarl. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am, Nyx." The man at her side said gently. "You and your family saved my life. Your aunt saved my soul. In my culture, if you save someone's life, that life belongs to the person who saved it. You and your aunt saved me. I am yours, Nyx."

"What...?" Nyx swallowed and then anger surfaced. "What sick _game_ are you playing?" She demanded.

"No game." The man who called himself Ling said with a sad smile. "When you wake, tell Lynn 'cluster 243'. She will know what that means." He said gently. "And beware the one who seems closest. Trust the Lotus and no one else."

"I don't understand!" Nyx snapped, fighting whatever held her now and the man nodded, his face still gentle. "Who _are_ you? You seem...familiar, but not."

"I know." The man said with a smile. "My name is Ling."

Nyx jerked awake and took several deep breaths before she was able to calm herself. She stared at the chrono on the wall, she had been asleep for three hours. But then she froze in place. Something lay beside her on the bed.

A small arrow made of gold.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hoodwinked**

Nyx was shaking a bit as she finished her shower. Lynn was waiting for her when she exited the small cubicle, a stern look on her face.

"Nyx." Lynn said calmly. "You scared us all."

"I am sorry, Lynn." Nyx said sadly. "That was dumb of me."

"Most of us have wanted to belt that brat a time or two." Lynn said, coming close and laying an arm around Nyx's shoulders. "You showed him the error of his ways. I don't think any of the rest of us would have been so gentle. Thing is..." The doc said with a sigh. "His problems are a mix of physical and mental. It will take some time to come to grips with them. But Saryn is on it."

"Saryn?" Nyx asked slowly. "Why Saryn?"

"She has a crush on him." Lynn said with a fond smile. "Bit more than a crush actually. He never noticed, silly boy." Lynn said, her tone exasperated.

"_Saryn_...?" Nyx said, stunned. "And _Jack_...?"

"Yeah." Lynn said with a grin. "That was about what I said when she came to me and confessed a week ago. Ever since then, she has been mustering the courage to talk to him. She is a brave Tenno but there are a few things she is an absolute chicken about." Nyx was shaking her head in disbelief as she pulled on a jumpsuit. "You seem shaken. You okay?"

"I am. Did you put this here?" Nyx asked, pointing at the small golden arrow she hadn't touched since she had woken with it beside her. Lynn stared at it.

"No." Lynn said, not comprehending. "What is it?"

"A golden arrow." Nyx said, finally picking it up. It was lighter than she expected. Plastic? "Like the one Robin Hood won in an archery tournament." Lynn stared at the arrow and then at Nyx, confused. "I know." Nyx said quietly.

"Ling hasn't left his bed, Nyx." Lynn said slowly. "He can't. He is not physically capable of movement."

"This is going to sound strange..." Nyx said, holding the arrow up to examine it closely. It looked...like an arrow. "I had a dream last night. After Hayden and I talked." Lynn didn't speak, she waited for Nyx to continue. "I was lying on grass, under a large tree. It was...a familiar tree." Nyx said softly. "I think..." She shook her head, bemused. "There was a park. In Lasria? If not, then close enough to get to quickly." She asked herself. "A small park, a cleared space with a single tree. I remember... my friends climbing the tree and I wasn't big enough to. I tried anyway, I fell and..." She shook her head. "I was ten...or twelve?"

"Were you hurt?" Lynn asked kindly.

"Just my pride." Nyx replied with a sad smile. Then she shook her head. "That park was bulldozed to make space for construction. I remember that." She mused. "I remember crying because I wasn't ever going to be able to climb that tree. To beat that tree." Lynn nodded.

"So your dream was the tree?" Lynn asked. Nyx nodded, but then shook her head.

"Yes and no. I was lying under the tree and there was a man there, a young man." Nyx said slowly. "He looked Chinese, but... he was polite and kind even when I was not." She said with a sigh. "He said he was Ling." Lynn stared at Nyx and her mouth opened and closed a few times. "I know." Nyx said sadly.

"Was he talking about The Sheriff of Nottingham or Prince John?" Lynn asked slowly. "Or was he asking about his 'Merry Men'?"

"None of the above." Nyx said with a sigh. "He told me to tell you, 'Cluster 243'." Lynn froze at that and Nyx nodded. "That means something to you, doesn't it?"

"It...does..." Lynn said faintly. "There is so much damage to his brain matter, I was trying to see where the origination point was, work my way back from that. If...if it was cluster 243, then I can..." She stared off into space. She shook herself. "Sorry Nyx, but..."

"It's okay." Nyx smiled, stepped up to Lynn and gave her a hug. "If you can help Ling, that is far more important than anything else right now. Go, I need to talk to the kids, then I have a flight to catch."

"Come with me. Bring the arrow." Lynn said, starting off and pulling Nyx with her. Nyx hesitated for a moment, then followed.

Nyx followed Lynn through the spotless medical ward to the secure ICU. In a sealed room that was kept on isolated networks, Lynn paused and pulled on a set of scrubs. She helped Nyx into gloves and a surgical cap before putting on her own. Nyx was breathing hard when Lynn opened the door to the sealed section. The security was for the protection of the patient, not to keep him in. The idiots who had hurt Ling had been trying to interface a human brain with a computer and succeeded, partly. Unfortunately, they had also been experimenting with the Technocyte virus at the same time, so Nyx was ready for the sight that greeted her. The small form that lay in the bed was not human. The arms and legs were too thin and frail to be useful in any way. The skull was huge and the two eyes that dominated it were also far larger than human eyes. Several metallic patches shone on his skull where connections had been surgically implanted by the crazed scientists. It had taken years for his transformation to complete, and until then his skin had been in a constant state of flux. Changing from moment to moment from scales, to feathers, to chitin. Now it was flesh. If gray not human flesh.

"Sister Lynn? Sister Nyx?" The voice of the young man as always sent a shiver of pain and fear through Nyx. She had touched Ling's mind the first day he had been here, to try and get through. She had...seen it all. Everything that had happened to him. Small wonder she had fainted. It was all she could do not to burst into tears at the sight. "Have you seen Little John? He was to come by today with this week's taking from the Sheriff. I haven't seen him, I hope he is okay." The voice was...wrong. Especially coming from a mouth that had no lips.

It was odd. No one looking at Ling would call anything about him 'normal' but the voice was pure Hollywood American. They were always very careful not to push him, not to try to get him to accept the actual reality. He was...functional. Sort of. His legs were a withered massed of flesh and bone, but his arms were capable, if far weaker than a normal human's, let alone a Tenno's. The tubes that ran into his lower body would be there for the rest of his life.

"Robin." Lynn said warmly. "How are you feeling?"

"I..." The boy replied slowly. "Strange. I dreamed of the Greenwood Tree last night. At least, I think it was the Greenwood Tree. You were there, Sister Nyx. But I didn't understand what I was saying. What you were saying." Lynn and Nyx shared a look and then Nyx stepped forward, the arrow in hand.

"Did you leave this with me, Robin?" Nyx asked kindly.

"My...my golden arrow..." The boy replied softly, taking it from her hand. "Thank you, sister Nyx. I must have misplaced this." He held it close as Lynn stepped back. "Sister Lynn?" He asked.

"I need to do something Robin." Lynn said gently. "I am not sure what it will do. I do not know if it will hurt or not."

"All of your sisters here at the convent have been very kind." The boy said sadly. "Hiding me from my enemies in my infirmity. I hope to repay your kindness someday."

"You will, Robin." Nyx promised. The fact that Ling thought the medical ward was a medieval convent was the _least_ of his delusions. "You want me to sit with you for a time?" She asked.

"I have missed you." Ling said patting the side of his bed. Lynn smiled as Nyx sat. "How are your pupils? You told me of them when last you came. I remembered that. If not their names..." He said.

"My 'pupils'..." Nyx said sadly. "They are coming along. But... I am not the teacher they need."

"I find that very hard to believe, sister Nyx." Ling said gently as Lynn started working on something. "You are patient and kind. What more can anyone want in a teacher?" He paused as she shook her head. "What happened?"

"I lost my temper, Robin." Nyx said sadly. "I hurt one of them. He was just being... himself. But I was so angry..."

"The blood can run hot in any of us, Sister Nyx." Ling said softly. "I have found myself angry for no reason I can determine occasionally. You are a good teacher, Sister Nyx." He said quietly. "You did not slay?" She shook her head and ho nodded. "Then all is well or can be mended in time." He patted her arm with the hand that did not hold the arrow. "Do not blame yourself, Sister Nyx."

"Robin..." Lynn said quietly. "Brace yourself." Nyx took hold of his hand and held it tight. Ling gave a squeeze and then gasped as Lynn flipped a switch.

"Ah..." Ling gasped again as something happened. Nyx did not open her mind. Her abilities were far weaker outside of her warframe, but while in touch contact, she could read minds. She couldn't without reason. She both respected Ling's privacy and didn't want to feel the sheer anguish he had gone through again. Then he jerked. The lights flickered and then returned.

"Lynn!" Nyx cried, but Lynn was watching her readouts. "Lynn, he is convulsing!"

"No." Lynn replied softly, awed. "He is _healing_!"

Nyx stared in awe as the misshapen body in front of her wavered and...changed! In moments, the three fingered hand she held had five fingers. The face shifted from an alien countenance to a human form, if horrifically scarred. It shrank as well to normal human size. His legs and arms shifted to human flesh as well, but remained the small, withered things they had been.

"My god..." Nyx said, stunned as the man on the bed gasped and took a deep breath. "Robin?" He looked at her and smiled through his scars.

"No, Nyx." He said with a small laugh. "My name is Ling. Thank you for remembering."

"How?" Lynn demanded. "This is... This isn't possible."

"Doctor." Ling said in a small, sad voice. "How much of _any_ of what you have recently encountered _has_ been possible?"

"In the dream or whatever... You said Irina did something." Nyx said, not daring to move. "What did Irina _do_?"

"I will never harm you, Nyx." Ling said quietly. "Not that I _can_ at the moment. I am a mess." He said a bit self consciously, laying the golden arrow down.

"Irina?" Lynn asked slowly. "She was here a lot, helped. But... Your damage was too much."

"Too much was gone, yes." Ling replied. "She ran an algorithm for processing the data that was left in my brain. She..." He shook his head, his hairless scalp sliding over his pillow. "She figured that if I couldn't manage on my own, she could augment my mind with cybernetics. She could link me to computer systems that could extrapolate and replace what I lost. Most of it anyway."

"You are...hooked to the systems?" Lynn asked, scared. "How many?"

"Doctor..." Ling said slowly, not moving. "I have been linked to the all of the computer systems since Irina made the drones with Mag's help."

"You...?" Nyx stammered. "_You_ are the reason the drones are always courteous to me!"

"Actually...? No." Ling replied easily. "Irina programmed them to respond with better service to courtesy and with _bad_ service to rudeness." He said with a grin. Nyx had to laugh at that. She could just see her crazy aunt doing that. Then he stiffened. "Nyx, you need to let go of me and stand with Lynn."

"Why?" Nyx asked, fearful.

"Because Master Hayden and Mag are about to arrive." Ling said softly. "And they are...upset." Lynn froze, but Nyx just shook her head. "Nyx, please. I owe you and your aunt. Do not get in trouble for me. Not now."

"I have made too many mistakes recently." Nyx said softly. "Do you swear that you are not a threat to my family?" She asked quietly as the door signaled that someone was in the clean room.

"I serve the Tenno." Ling said softly. "Now and always."

"Who is the Lotus?" Nyx asked as the door flew open. She didn't look away from Ling's face as two forms hurried in, both holding weapons. Mag held a rifle and Hayden held his Glaive.

"Nyx, move." Hayden commanded.

"Master Hayden..." Nyx said formally. "Please? Let him explain."

"Every single computer system in the Citadel just _rebooted_." Hayden snapped. "Luckily Nova wasn't working with anything major. The control signals are coming from here."

"Irina did it, not him." Nyx said, laying her head on Ling's chest. "He is a victim, Master Hayden. Like me. Like Lynn. Like _you_!"

"Nyx, please do as he says." Ling said softly, not missing that both Mag and Hayden stiffened at his calm and not Robin Hood voice. "I have my mind again, Master Hayden Tenno. I am not...whole, but I am functional. Irina saved me. I owe her and Nyx. Do not get in trouble for me, Nyx. Not now."

"What did Irina do?" Hayden asked, not relaxing.

"She connected the incomplete neural linkages in my skull to the computer systems." Ling said softly. "She repaired what she could and replaced what she could not. Then she started defragmenting. It took... a long time. She did not survive to see it complete. It did not complete until yesterday actually. That was when I woke, but... not fully. I could not access my body completely until Lynn reset the cluster of neurons that had started this mess." He waved a slow hand at himself.

"You are hooked to the computer systems?" Mag said sharply, not lowering her oddly shaped rifle. "How do we know you are not a spy?"

"I was." Ling said softly. Nyx stiffened and Ling smiled at her. "Stress 'was'. I am older than I look. I know you and Lynn have commented on that, Master Hayden."

"Did you volunteer for this?" Hayden asked, still not relaxing.

"I do not remember." Ling said sadly. "Ask Nyx to check if you wish. I do not believe I volunteered for this, but I do not know. I _do_ know that Irina found a record of me in the SVR files detailing me as a young agent for the People's Republic of China Ministry of State Security. I do not know if I was intended as a plant of some kind. If so, whatever brainwashing was done to me likely did not survive the neural trauma. But I do not know." Ling said with a sigh. "And you cannot take the chance."

"Ling... No..." Nyx said softly. "Not after all of this." She pleaded.

"Nyx... Please." Ling said kindly. "Take the arrow from my side and give it to Master Hayden."

"Why?" Nyx demanded, not touching the plastic thing. "What is it?"

"A kill switch. Break it in half and my brain shuts off." Ling said quietly. "Irina's safeguard in case I turned out really crazy or a hostile. I am not, but he cannot know that, Nyx."

"I can." Nyx said, steeling herself.

"Nyx..." Hayden dragged out the syllable of her name.

"Do you trust me, Master Hayden?" Nyx asked, not looking at him. Ling stared at her, worried and she smiled. "There is enough meaningless death in the world already, Ling. Let's not add to it today." She said gently.

"Nyx, no!" Ling said sharply, but she had already touched the side of his head. He recoiled, but her hand followed, maintaining contact. "_Stop her!_ She will hurt herself! She did the last time!"

Nyx jerked as raw pain slammed into her. Memories of horror. Of fear. Of rage and hate. And then... The pain faded. She saw it. The truth in his mind. The horrible truth that had been hidden even from him.

"You _didn't_ volunteer." Nyx said, tears starting to fall. "You were taken against your will. Oh Ling, I am sorry!" She said as she laid her head down on his shoulder and cried.

"It...doesn't hurt." Ling said softly. "It did, and now it does not. You broke a block. I remember now. Oh Nyx..." He laid a gentle hand on her arm and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay." He looked to where Hayden had finally lowered his Glaive and Mag had lowered her rifle. "I ask permission of you, Master Hayden Tenno. I ask to join your group. I will not aid the scum who took me despite my skills, despite my patriotism, who used me as an experimental animal. If _you_ use me, then I know the cause will be just. I want this horror _stopped_." Iron might have bent under his tone.

"Welcome to the family, Ling." Hayden said as his glaive vanished. "One question: Why Robin Hood?"

"I wasn't whole. I am not entirely sure, but I can guess. I always liked outfoxing people." Ling said with a small chuckle as he patted Nyx's head awkwardly. "And the Disney version was _hilarious._" Mag stared at him and he shrugged. "You _would_ make a cute Maid Marian, Mag."

"_Don't_ push it." Mag snapped, then turned on her heel and stalked from the room.

"You will fit right in." Nyx chuckled a bit wetly.

"You need to get to Lasria, Nyx." Ling said softly. "The Lotus is waiting for you there."

"Who is the Lotus?" Nyx asked softly as she retreated a bit.

"The future."


	27. Chapter 27

**Lasria**

Nyx felt...very strange exiting the terminal. She had never actually been in the airport when she had been in Lasria. Oh, she had seen the planes coming and going, but it had been far from her home. She had always wondered what the main airport in Lasria would be like. Shining buildings, state of the art aircraft... the works. But, like so much else, the reality didn't live up to the glorious dreams of her childhood.

Leaving the Citadel had been...bittersweet. She had apologized to Katrina, Eric and Jack. Katrina had been in tears. Eric all stoic, but Jack... Jack had bowed to her. A full, formal kowtow that she had returned with equal formality. Neither had spoken, but both understood each other. Then she had gone. A step through a golden portal that wound up in a ladies washroom at the Hamburg Airport in Germany. She had one piece of carryon luggage that was pure camouflage. She didn't need anything in it if she had to run. Then a flight to Lasria. She had time to think, to remember.

The Mikhail Gorbachev Airport had started as an air base for the Russian air forces in the early eighties. That was perfectly clear from the downright _ugly_ buildings that dominated the place. It was also small. Nyx had seen airports that had taken her breath away from the sheer size of them. Moscow, London, the United States... All of these places had huge airports with hundreds of planes landing and taking off. Nyx had counted _four_ large aircraft on the tarmac at the Lasria airport. A parked line of smaller planes, many in various stages of neglect, had added to the general feeling of...well... It wasn't laziness. The few aircraft that were maintained were _very_ well maintained. But most of the aircraft and even the building had suffered from the ravages of time. Nyx made a point to avoid the public washrooms. They hadn't been cleaned in a while. She could tell. Her warframe sensors were on high alert.

She had kept her warframe in hidden mode. She wasn't worried, not really. The security of the Lasrian airport was about on par with it's maintenance. Parts of it were good -mainly the machinery that people could see-, most of it was bad. She hadn't had any problems at all. Not that she would. Mag's technical wizardry was amazing. She had literally walked through a metal detector with her warframe and a pistol on without it even bleeping. She had been a little worried when a guard at Heathrow had taken her aside for an extra screening, but the wand scanner that the guard had used hadn't so much as twitched. To get past the security in Lasria had taken a folded hundred ruble note. They hadn't even tried to scan her. Part of her was outraged by the sheer apathy of the guards that she could see. Part of her was delighted that she didn't have to lie. The rest of her was focused on her mission. Find the Lotus.

Nyx had a reservation with a hotel so she hired a taxi to take her there. The cab driver raised an eyebrow when she didn't have any more luggage, but did not say anything, just nodded to her and asked where to go in broken English. She gave the location in her old language and he thawed a bit.

"You are from Lasria?" He asked in the local language.

"I was." Nyx replied a bit wistfully, looking out over the city. It was...different. "A long time ago." The driver glanced at her in the mirror and she shrugged. "I was studying in Moscow. I went there in 2008..." She trailed off ad he nodded.

"Your family?" He asked, his tone kind. She shook her head. "I am sorry."

"Many tragedies." Nyx agreed. "You?" She asked.

"We were...evacuated." The driver said with a snarl. "They called it a camp. Camp, feh..." He spit. "It was a _gulag_."

"Terrifying." Nyx agreed. "Both the plague and the unknown."

"Why come back?" The driver asked softly, glancing at her again.

"I don't know." Nyx admitted. "Maybe...to see if any sign of what happened to my family still exists? Maybe just to see."

"There are memorials." The driver said softly. "Many names. Few dates. Fewer records."

"It was horror." Nyx said, swallowing heavily. "Just reading about it or seeing it on the news was bad enough. I kept hoping for a call from my parents. But no..." Her mood abruptly changed as the cab took a turn and a park appeared ahead. It hadn't been there before. Indeed, if she wasn't mistaken, this area had been apartment blocks. In the park, a huge statue had been erected. It was at least ten meters high and seemed to be made of steel. A statue she recognized: Hayden in his armor with his glaive out and ready!"What the-...?" She demanded. Hayden would _not_ be pleased. She snapped a picture to have proof. "What _is_ that_?_"

"You have not been back since the plague." The driver said with a laugh. "The city fathers decided to honor the one who saved us all from it. An American. A spy."

"A _spy_?" Nyx snapped, stunned. How badly had Hayden's cover been blown?

"A hero." The driver said with pride. "No matter if he was American, he saved us all." He stared at her in the mirror. "You have not heard of Hayden Tenno?"

"I know the name." Nyx said weakly. "He went to the United Nations some time ago, did he not?" He was never going to believe this.

"He walked in, told the _entire_ collected powers of the world to stop _playing_ with things they could not understand or control, and then walked out before they could recover their senses and get angry. I understand some of them cursed for an hour." The driver laughed. "You _have_ to admire a man who can stand up in front of every _single_ national power on _Earth_ and tell them to 'grow up'." He chuckled. "The city fathers commissioned the statue a week later."

"I have been...busy." Nyx said, at a loss for words. "I am a teacher but..." She shook her head. "I planned to come back. Hoped to come back. Many changes."

"Yes, many changes." The driver agreed. "Not all good, but change is change, yes?"

"Yes, it is." Nyx agreed. "I..." She shook her head. "How far to the hotel?"

"Not far." The driver said with a smile that faded. "It is not the best part of town. They have security. But it is not the best part of town."

"I understand." Nyx said softly. "Mama always warned me to stay in at night. Is it bad during the day?"

"Sometimes. There are guards." The driver said slowly. "Some are even good and for hire. Do not go out without them." He warned.

"_That_ bad?" Nyx asked, worried. Not for herself, but if she happened to...um...splatter some street thugs, her cover was dust. Hayden would not appreciate that.

"There are few jobs." The driver said softly. "I work three myself and can barely make enough to support my own family."

"Oh, I understand that too well." Nyx said softly. "I lived for a time with a man who was former Army. We...had to be careful with money."

"Former Army?" The driver asked softly. "Can you talk about it?"

"I should not." Nyx replied softly. "He was a good man. He rescued me when I had bad...times and helped me. He died protecting me. I...left."

"I see." The cabbie said quietly. He sighed. "Many bad stories. But you survived."

"I did." Nyx said with a sad smile. "Is the University still open?" The cabbie looked at her and she shrugged. "A friend went there. She got in trouble and left, wanted me to check on it for her."

"It is there." The cabbie said sourly. "They have money troubles, but who doesn't these days?" He asked sourly. The cab passed through a guarded gate marked 'Hilton'. Security troops armed with Lasrian Korbov assault rifles surrounded the car as he stopped the car for them to search the truck and underneath. They waved him on quickly. "Your hotel, Ma'am." The driver said with a nod.

Nyx smiled and handed him a wad of Lasrian ruble bills. "Keep the change." She said quietly. He froze and she smiled. "I may need a ride back to the airport. It may be at an odd hour."

"Call me." The cabbie said, handing her a card. She took it and put it in a pocket. "Thank you."

"We Lasrians have to stick together, no?" Nyx asked with a smile as she left the car. His expression was...odd as she stepped towards the door, but then he started the car again and moved to leave. She strode into the modern looking building and nodded to the pretty girl behind the desk. The girl's name badge read "Talia'. "Galina Smith, I have a reservation." Nyx said in Lasrian.

"Yes, Miss Smith, we have your reservation. I will need your identification." The receptionist said brightly. "Did you have a pleasant flight?"

"Long." Nyx said with a sigh. "I should get some rest in something that is not moving." She said as she extended her IDs that were real -but not- to the receptionist. "I will want to go out tomorrow, but the driver of my cab warned me about possible violence?" She made the last a question.

"Idle hands and vodka." Talia said sadly. "Many weapons as well." Nyx nodded, her face sour and the receptionist nodded as well. "Where will you go?"

"My family lived on Lotorsk Drive before 2008." Nyx said and the receptionist froze. "That is...bad?"

"That area...was mostly burnt down. The remnants were torn down and bulldozed." The receptionist said quietly. Nyx staggered a bit and Talia's face was sympathetic. "There is a memorial."

"I...need to see it." Nyx said softly. "But not until tomorrow. I am not stupid however. Do you have any security personnel that you can recommend for hire?"

"We have a few that we deal with." The receptionist said softly. "They are...expensive. Good, but expensive."

"I can pay for protection for a day." Nyx replied. Hayden had given her ample funds. Camouflage and all. "Maybe no more than that, but a _day_ I can handle."

"Don't flash a lot of money around." The girl warned her. "Inside the gates, we are safe. No one has dared to attack us for several months since a guard replied to sniper shots with a rocket launcher. Took down the entire abandoned building the shots came from. " Nyx's eyes went wide and the girl shrugged. "No one has shot at us since."

"I wonder why." Nyx said with a laugh. But then she sighed. "It is sad. I... I remember when I was a child. I went to the park with my family and there was... little fear. Worry yes, with the KGB and GRU around, but little _fear_." She said in wistful memory.

"Sometimes I wonder if democracy is all it is cracked up to be." Talia said honestly. "We see so few good changes."

"I know." Nyx agreed. "I have seen many places, even the United States once." Talia's eyes went wide and Nyx shrugged. "Short time only and it was...a bit stressful." Considering she had been hit by a car and then _shot_ during that visit...

"What was it like?" Talia asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Similar but different." Nyx said with a laugh. "The people were...good, but..." She shook her head. "Clueless. Not lazy, or at least not the ones I saw, but... not informed."

"I have always wanted to see America." Talia said in a tone of wonder. "But the internet is the closest I will get I think." A machine whirred and she plucked out a card. "Here is your key. Room 526. If you wish, I can set up an escort for you."

"I wouldn't know where to start." Nyx said softly, then paused, a smile curling her lips. "How much?" The girl stared at her and Nyx laughed. "I won't ask you to do it for _free_ or you will give me drunks as guards with weapons that don't work."

"I wouldn't do that!" Talia said with a grin. Then she paused. "Do I know you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "You seem...familiar."

"I do not believe we have met." Nyx said, racking her own brain but nothing came to mind.

"You remind me of an older girl, I went to school with." Talia said softly. "Your name is the same, but she... she would be older by now." Talia shook herself. "She disappeared one day and we were told not to inquire." Nyx stiffened, she didn't remember Talia from the university, but it might have been.

"If I may...?" Nyx asked softly. "You were in university?"

"Advanced placement classes." Talia said softly. "I was only fourteen, but had placed out of my normal classes. My grades got me in and I got a certificate in a year." Nyx's eyes went wide and Talia shrugged. "Some great placement, huh?" She nodded around the lobby.

"Your life is not over, Talia." Nyx said gently as she claimed her key. "Don't give up hope." She nodded to the receptionist and started for where she could see elevators. She preferred stairs, but the elevator would be more in line with her cover identity.

"When I have something I will call your room." Talia called after her. "And we can haggle my fee." She said with a grin as Nyx smiled back after hitting the elevator button.

"What are you blabbering about, girl?" A sharp voice snapped and Nyx stepped back from the elevator as a man in a suit stepped from an office. "You work for me! I charge fees!"

"Nothing, Mr. Demitrov!" Talia said, her face falling. "It was a joke!"

"I will teach you about joking on duty!" The man said, raising his hand, only to pause as Nyx cleared her throat. "What?" He spun only to freeze as he saw who and what she was. A paying customer.

"If you touch her..." Nyx said quietly. "I will cancel my reservation and find another hotel. My business is with her. Not you." She said quietly, stepping closer to the now cowering girl.

"No..." Talia said with fear in her voice. "Don't..."

"She is my employee and she is lazy!" He raised his hand again, only to pause in midstrike as Nyx raised her hand a little.

"You don't want to hit Talia." Nyx said softly.

"I don't want to hit Talia." The manager said, his face wooden. Talia stared at him and then at Nyx, her face pale.

"You want to go back into your office and rethink your life." Nyx said calmly. "Keep up the good work, Talia."

"I will go back into my office and rethink my life." The manager said softly. "Keep up the good work Talia." He said, then turned on his heel and went back into his office, the door shutting quietly behind him.

"What _are_ you?" Talia asked, scared.

"You have no reason to fear me, Talia." Nyx said quietly, her hand still up. Talia stiffened. "Nothing happened."

"I am not afraid of you." Talia said woodenly. "Nothing happened." She shook herself as Nyx lowered her hand. "Did you say something...?" She paused. "Was my boss here?"

"No." Nyx said with a shrug. "I thought _you_ said something. But I must have imagined it. It was a long flight. You said you would call?"

"My shift ends in four hours." Talia said with a nod. "When it ends, I can do other work. I know just who to call."

"Let me know and then we can haggle rates." Nyx said with a smile. "Actually..." She paused. "I could use a guide with current local knowledge. Interested?" She did not want to leave the girl with that man.

"Ah..." Talia shrugged. "I'll see."

"No pressure. I will pay you for finding me good, reliable security." Nyx said with a nod. "And if you choose to work for me? I will pay for that as well."

"I will..." Talia said, gulping. "...let you know." Nyx froze.

"Talia." Nyx's voice was very gentle now. "I misspoke. That was _not_ an invitation. I do not hire people for _that _against their will. Clear?" Talia relaxed, smiled and nodded.

"I..." Talia shook herself. "We will talk in four hours, yes?"

"Yes." Nyx said with a smile of her own as she headed for the waiting elevator. Only when she was inside did she lean against the wall and sigh. "Geez... I _must_ be tired."

The elevator chimed and she walked down the hall in the indicated direction until she found the room she was assigned. She slid the card in and it beeped green in the lock. The door opened and she stepped in, sweeping the small room with more than just eyes. No listening devices, basic TV, internet and phone. She smiled a bit forlornly, closed and locked the door, checked the window and paused. She could see the statue of Hayden from her window. She snickered as she took another couple of pictures then lay down on the bed.

_I am here, Master Hayden. _She said on the odd wavelength that Tenno shared.

_Situation?_ Hayden's response came immediately.

_Security is tight at the hotel, but geared towards human threats._ Nyx said calmly. _I am going to maintain my cover while I look around, probably hire a couple of guards and a local guide._

_Good. _Hayden said softly. _Frost is encountering resistance, but nothing we didn't expect. He will be available if you need backup._

_Right. _Nyx said with a nod. _Um... did you know they built a statue of you?_

_What?_ Nyx treasured the stunned sputtering sound that came from Hayden.

_About ten meters tall, looks like steel and is you in armor._ Nyx said with a snort. _Apparently you are person of renown here now. _

_Nyx..._ Hayden growled a warning.

_What?_ Nyx asked innocently. _I took pictures. I can send you some. _The connection vanished as suddenly as it had formed and she chortled."Got him... Hayden Tenno, Hero of Lasria... Will wonders never cease?"


	28. Chapter 28

**You can't go home again**

It was...bad. As bad as she had feared. This was worse. Talia was in fact a very knowledgeable local guide, her skill with directions was astounding. The two guards she had recommended to Nyx were, from a quick glance, consummate professionals. Both knew what they were and what they were doing. Their armor and weapons were top of the line and well maintained. They had introduced themselves as Tom and Miensa, a husband and wife team of mercenaries. High priced mercenaries. If Nyx had been paying for this, she would have winced at the price tag they didn't even bother to haggle. But she wasn't. After assuring themselves that Nyx wasn't a complete airhead, they had melted into the background. They were always there, but not intrusive. Their plain civilian clothing concealed well cared for arsenals and body armor. Well protected, but discrete. Nyx was glad for that.

The Tenno had talked with Talia as they had walked. It actually wasn't that far from the hotel to Lotorsk Drive. Lasria was not a big country and her capital was not large either. Talia's family actually wasn't _from_ Lasria. She was from a small village in the Ukraine. But she had come to Lasria to attend the rebuilt university when her local school had proved insufficient to keep her occupied. She had graduated from her high school at age ten! She was far, far smarter than anyone Nyx had ever met. Maybe even Lynn. But she was also kind and gentle. Nyx did not miss the signs of old bruising. Her manager was not and had not been a kind man. Nyx was determined that the girl not stay at that job, but wasn't sure how to go about it. After talking with Talia the night before, she had contacted Hayden and talked to him, tweaking him about the statue every so often. He was going to look into possibilities. Right now, Nyx was facing her past.

Talia had been right. Lotorsk Drive was gone. Completely gone. An industrial park sat where her old neighborhood had been. Even the streets were different. She shook her head, staring at a metal pipe business that stood where her home had been.

"You told me..." Nyx said softly. "I didn't believe."

"I am sorry." Talia said softly. "I heard this whole area was burned to the ground, cleared and then bulldozed."

"That...makes sense." Nyx said, her tone dazed. "The virus was a horror." She paused. "By all accounts anyway."

"It was." Tom's voice came from nearby. Nyx looked at him and he shrugged. "They hired a lot of security specialists to help clean up." Nyx read between the lines. He had stayed after. She glanced at the other merc and nodded slightly. Miensa was a Lasrian name. Tom had found a reason to stay.

"I..." Nyx swallowed. "I am glad you survived." Tom nodded, his face closing up as he looked around. Nyx shook herself. "Talia? You said there is a memorial?"

"It is...not far." Talia said, her voice soft with sympathy. "I am sorry." She repeated.

"Not your fault." Nyx said a bit sharply, then sighed as Talia recoiled. "I apologize. I... I knew it was hopeless, but I had to see. I had to know." Talia relaxed and then nodded down the street, Nyx followed her. "It is silly, but I did hope to see my family again."

"Not silly at all." Talia said in a tone that had Nyx freezing. Complete understanding. Nyx stared at the girl whose face was set. "My family were farmers. We... The land had shuddered a few times since I was born, but no one thought much of it. Then... I had word. 5.6 is not a strong earthquake, but...no one was ready. No one was prepared."

"Oh no..." Nyx said, her face ashen. "No..."

"It was the middle of the night. They were all home." Talia said sadly. "The house collapsed. My brother was the only one who got out...and he was hurt very badly. He didn't live long after."

"Oh Talia." Nyx said, stepping close to take the girl's hands in hers. "How long?"

"Six months." Talia said with a gulp. "I should...be strong..."

"You _are_ strong." Nyx said quietly. "I will not embarrass you. But if you wish to talk, anytime while I am here... You have but to ask. I _do_ understand."

"I know you do, Galina." Talia said with a nod, then shook her head and started off, Nyx following and the guards following them both. "The memorial was built in 2015, after the final clean up was declared completed."

Nyx listened to Talia with one ear and kept the rest of her senses peeled. She had seen images scrawled on several building that might have been lotuses. Or might have just been graffiti. She couldn't be sure and now was not a good time. Even during the day, predators in human form were watching from the shadows. More than a couple had stepped out only to pause and go back when the guards stepped forward, hands hidden under their coats. Nyx knew that sooner or later, someone would try something. The question was when and what. Talia was not stupid, she had a small pistol in a shoulder holster and a lightweight armored vest. It was Nyx who _looked_ unarmed and unprotected. But she couldn't very well tell people she wasn't, could she?

The pistol at her hip alone would raise a number of eyebrows. Mag's manufactory was a marvelous place, if you liked things that went bang. Nyx had no idea what the acronym LATO stood for and really didn't care. The pistol was light, accurate and packed far more of a punch than it should for a weapon its size. It was gaudier than she preferred, Mag having made the weapon with gold trim, but it was still a functional weapon for all that. It was also easy to draw, if hidden by the holographic illusion that covered Nyx's entire form. A warframe was just a little bit conspicuous after all.

Talia led the camouflaged warframe into a large fenced in area and Nyx froze a she saw dozens, hundreds of stones. Each with names on it. A glance at the closest stones showed the names were in family groups. Nyx was breathing hard as she stepped forward.

"I..." Nyx swallowed. "How many?"

"About 50,000." Talia said sadly. "Many people...had no ID. Or...could not be identified. The planners went from the last census in 2006."

"Is it...organized?" Nyx asked, staring around. If not, she could be here all day, just looking.

"By street." Talia said softly, indicating a small, barely visible mark on the ground. A closer inspection showed a small plague with street names. Nyx nodded slowly.

"Revolution Boulevard crossing Centennial Street..." The Tenno said as slowly as she had nodded. "Lotorsk Drive would be... that way." She waved towards where other people were. Some kneeling, some crying.

"Do you want to be alone?" Talia asked kindly.

"No." Nyx said quietly. "I... I want to see. But... I am afraid." She said, the admission making her feel small. She jumped as a hand found hers. Talia looked up at her, the younger girl's face a sad thing. "It doesn't make sense to be afraid now, but..."

"I couldn't go back to the farm." Talia said sadly. "I had to have my cousin do it. He...wasn't happy about it, but he said he was glad I wasn't there. After."

Nyx nodded, took a deep breath and started into the memorial. The graveyard for an entire city. There were other people in the memorial. Some in groups, some solitary. Most of them were young. Nyx frowned. Most of the groups were too young to have had family here during the plague. She felt Talia close in with her as they passed one group of kids in leather. A street gang. She could feel their eyes on her as she continued into the memorial.

May Road. Devorsh Street. Lindria Court. The names beat down on Nyx as she continued. Then... She was there. Lotorsk Drive. She stared along the short path, each side marked with the names of families that had lived in the apartments that she remembered so well. Nyx was breathing hard as she scrutinized each,. She didn't remember many of the names, but a few...she did. Gramma Suria had been the neighborhood nanny, taking care of many of the kids of workers who were gone all day. Nyx had stayed with her a few times. She hadn't even known Suria's last name was Ridlov. The next house...had been her family's. She knelt down slowly to touch the small stone, tracing her father's name, her mother's. Her two older brothers who worked at a factory with their father. Her younger sister who had just turned twelve and had been working to... She paused. Where was Josef? Her original name Marlena was conspicuous by its absence. But... Her little brother Josef's name was not there _either_. She shook her head. He had been two years old when the plague had hit. There was no way he would have been able to get away.

"Galina?" Talia asked, worried. "Problem?"

"My little brother's name is not here." Nyx said slowly. "How careful were they with that census information?" Talia jerked, but before she could speak, Tom did.

"Very." Tom said from where he stood nearby. "Miensa and I were involved in some of it. They double and triple checked everything." Miensa nodded, silent, her eyes on the street gang who eyed her back. "There were some that could not be identified. How old...?" He broke off as Nyx turned a stricken face to him. "Oh..." He said softly. "I see."

"He... He was almost three..." Nyx stammered. "Too young to flee on his own. Mama and I were gone on a trip. She took me to her aunt as soon as we got word of the plague. She went back for the others..."

"And didn't get out." Tom said softly. "Sorry." His tone was respectful.

"Many tragedies..." Nyx said slowly, then paused as a voice sounded exclaimed nearby. She spun as a man approached from the direction of the street gang. His jacket was leather, his hands were hidden, but his face...His face was almost familiar. Nyx felt her bodyguards stiffen, hands hidden as well, but she remained still.

"Is it really you, Marlena?" The young man asked. He couldn't have been over sixteen.

"I haven't gone by the name Marlena in a long time. I go by Galina now." Nyx said calmly. "Do I know you?"

"You..." The young man shook his head and his hands came out of the pockets, empty. "I didn't believe it. But here you are." He said with a smile. "He said you would come and here you are." Nyx went still. This was...wrong. Something about this was wrong. He sounded...delighted, but it was...off.

"Do I know you?" Nyx asked slowly.

"Not yet." The boy said with a smile. "But you will." The world suddenly went white and Nyx froze as Talia, Tom and Miensa fell to the ground around her, stunned by something. The other humans who had been in the memorial park fell as well. The street gang they had passed...did not. "This is not a human affair, sister. We will talk... Yes...talk." He leered at her.

"You are no brother of mine." Nyx said, shaking her head. "You are not Tenno."

"Well, well, well..." The strange young man's face was appreciative now. "He spoke true. Tenno. You are who we seek. And fertile. You are...perfect..."

"Am I?" Nyx said calmly, throwing her mind out. She was actually not surprised to have her mental call for help rebound back to her. She focused her energy. She had the feeling this would not be easy.

"Yes you are." The strange young man said and then suddenly _he_ was clad in something like a warframe. It was cruder. It was obviously not a true mesh of man and machine like Nyx's warframe. But she could see weapon shapes on it. She could also see the others in the street gang also morph, armor appearing. "You will come with us."

"And if I refuse?" Nyx said softly, then paused as the odd almost warframe aimed what had to be a weapon at Talia's still form. "Coward." She spat.

"You Tenno are so predictable." The young man said with a snicker. "So stupid. So noble and selfless and so utterly helpless."

"Helpless?" Nyx asked with a tilt of her head. "Is that so?"

"Your powers are useless against us!" The not-street gang member declared as his comrades stepped closer. "You will serve."

"Is that so?" Nyx repeated, a glimmer of humor entering her tone now. "I have one question..." She said, not moving as the others closed in.

"What?" The boy asked snidely. "I might answer. I might not."

"Oh, you will." Nyx said calmly as she waited. "When I am done, you will answer my question. And any others I have for you. Then and _only_ then will I let you die, whatever you are." The others paused at her totally matter of fact tone. "I can see now that you are not human no matter how carefully you ape the mannerisms."

"We are the chosen of the new rulers of Earth!" The boy said with pride. "We are the _Reborn_."

"Reborn?" Nyx asked, surprised. "Oh geez..." She laughed. "Can't your evil overlord masters come up with a _decent_ name for their minion types? _Reborn?_" She laughed. They obviously did not know how to react to that. "Really. Oh come _on_... Why not just call yourself 'Mezner's Replacement's _Stooges'_?" She laughed again, an evil chuckle. "That makes about as much sense as 'Reborn'." She said sarcastically.

"You are funny, Marlena." The young man snapped. "A few weeks being bred in a cage and..." He paused as Nyx raised her left hand, cutting him off.

"I have changed my mind." Nyx said, her tone serious. "_You_ have nothing worth my time. Since you are not human, _you_ will be dead before you hit the ground. I will get answers from one of your fellow goons." She did not miss that the others shifted a bit nervously.

"You are all alone here, Marlena." The young man said with a snarl. "Unarmed and weak."

"Unarmed? Weak?" An incredulous male voice asked quietly from nearby. Nyx stiffened as a form appeared out of _nowhere_. It was as if the huge form had simply erupted from thin air. This one...was different. His armor was immaculate, huge and obviously heavy but smooth with clean lines. He was also about three _times_ Nyx's size. His armor had gold in places. "You fools have _no_ idea _who_ you are playing with. I am halfway tempted to let Nyx have you."

"Do I know you?" Nyx asked, still calm, ready.

"No. I am... an ally." The huge form said just as calmly. "You have no reason to trust me. So don't. Protect the humans, Nyx." He said, not moving from his place between her and the enemies who had _all_ taken a step back when he appeared. "Back away from the human girl. Now. Or die."

"Butt out, Rhino." The male braggart snapped. "This doesn't concern you." He _did_ step away from Talia.

"Do I care?" The one called Rhino said with a shrug. Nyx went still as a massive double bitted battle axe simply appeared in his hands. "_I_ choose what concerns me."

"You are a slave, Rhino." One of the other said slowly. "If you..."

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off, literally, when the huge axe flew through the air, cutting through the crude armor and machinery like a hot knife through butter. The speaker fell, cut almost in half and Nyx felt gorge rise as the others stepped back. Rhino stepped forward, wrenched his axe from the fallen one and snorted.

"Who is next?" Rhino asked sarcastically, twirling the axe a little, blood and other things spraying off it to splatter on the goons.

"This is not over." The leader of the goons said sourly. "We will meet again, Marlena!"

"My name is _Nyx_." The female Tenno said softly. "Feel _free_ to come after me. It will hurt." She stiffened as all of the armored goons, alive and dead, vanished as one. "What the hell?"

"Hell indeed." The other warframe said with a sigh. "Welcome back to Lasria, Nyx. If I were you, I would get back on a plane and _leave_ as quick as I could."

"Sensible advice." Nyx said with a nod as Talia groaned a bit. Tom and Miensa were awake, Nyx realized, but not moving as the huge form of the other warframe stood there. "Problem is, I have never been accused of being sensible." The one called Rhino chortled at that. "And I do still have a job. Someone to find."

"You are not going to like what you find." Rhino said, his form wavering a bit.

"I rarely do." Nyx said with a sigh as she knelt down beside Talia to check the girl for wounds. "But for what it's worth...thanks."

"You could have taken them." Rhino's voice came from nowhere. "But I promised a friend I wouldn't let the scum desecrate this memorial. I keep my promises. And for what it is worth? You are welcome." Then he was gone.

Nyx shook her head as she looked at Tom and Miensa who stared at her. She sighed as sirens sounded in the distance.

"Joy..."


	29. Chapter 29

**Tenno or not**

Nyx was weaving when she made it back to her hotel. She hated lying and she truly detested being forced to lie. The police had been...leery about her. She was the sole person in the whole memorial park who had not succumbed to the stunner. Talia had hit her head on a stone in falling, so she had been taken to a hospital. Nyx and her two bodyguards had been 'asked' top accompany the police to the police station. Since the policeman asking had held a Korbov ready, well... It hadn't _really_ been a request. She had spent four _hours_ explaining to the police that she didn't know what happened or why. Which was the truth. She had explained about her family, which had earned her a few sympathetic looks. But she wasn't about to expose her rescuer. _If_ he had been such.

Rhino. She had never heard of another warframe outside of the ones that burdened her kin. She had the feeling that he hadn't been there for her, per say. But to protect the memorial. She hadn't really been in any danger. If the fools who had accosted her and stunned Tom, Miensa and Talia had pressed, she would have opened fire. If Rhino's _battleaxe_ could do such damage to one of them, her specially built and modified pistol certainly would. They had underestimated her. Why? They had known she was Tenno, but...

Nyx had nothing but questions. She needed answers. She also needed some rest. The girl on duty at the desk nodded to Nyx but did not look away from whatever she was doing on her computer. Probably a game of some kind. Nyx didn't mind, she was...

As Nyx got out of the elevator, she stiffened. She wasn't alone. Matter of fact... She sighed as she swiped her key card and opened her door.

"Frost." She said as she entered the room and shut the door. Her brother nodded from where he knelt in the middle of the floor.

"Master Hayden said he felt something odd." Frost was fully armed. Rifle, pistol and twin swords poked around his heavy armored form. "He tried to contact you and couldn't. I caught a transport here as quickly as I could."

"Thank you for coming. I was blocked." Nyx said with a nod as she knelt down facing her brother. "Then I was under scrutiny at a police station." Frost looked at her and she sighed. "I went looking for my family. I... I found them." She said with a swallow.

"I am sorry, Nyx." Frost said gently. "What happened?"

"I was at the memorial where my family is remembered." Nyx said quietly. "A gang was there. I thought they were a street gang. I was wrong. One of them called me by the name I was born to as a human. He looked...familiar, but I cannot place him." Frost waited, patient as his namesake. "Someone stunned the guards I had hired as camouflage and the girl I hired as a guide. I was unaffected. I tried to call Master Hayden and could not reach him."

"Hmmm." Frost said slowly. "Now?" He inquired.

_Master Hayden?_ Nyx said quietly.

_You all right, Nyx?_ Hayden's voice was worried, but eased. _I am bringing Frost into this conversation. _Frost nodded but did not speak aloud or mentally.

_I am...okay._ Nyx said quietly. _Shaken but okay. Hayden, we have a massive problem. There are other warframes._

_What? _Both Hayden and Frost chorused as one. Frost shook his head and Hayden continued. _Where?_

_Here. _Nyx said quietly. _The people who accosted me were wearing crude warframe-like armor. Very crude. Another... came and stood them off before I could fight them. His armor was not crude. They called him 'Rhino'._

_**Rhino? **_Hayden demanded incredulously.

_He had the subtlety of one._ Nyx said with a sigh. _It may have been some kind of set up. But my gut says that they did not expect him to show up. He cut one in half with an axe, and then the living and dead vanished. Then Rhino did. Then the police arrived and I spent time at the station. Then I came here._

_I haven't heard anything about other warframes... _Frost said, worried. _Master Hayden?_

_Me neither. _Hayden replied uneasily. _All of ours are accounted for, in use and not. All parts of said warframes are accounted for. Can you describe this __**Rhino**__'s warframe, Nyx?_

_Big. _ Nyx said quietly. _He was about three times my size . Maybe twice Frost's_ Frost whistled tunelessly a aloud and Nyx nodded. _He wielded that axe of his as if it were as light as a baton, Hayden. Strong and I could tell his armor was far thicker than mine just by looking. I will make a sketch, send it from the hotel computer to a secure email drop point._

_Do that._ Hayden said, a command. _The others?_

_They initially appeared as humans in leather. A street gang. _ Nyx said, thinking back. _Then they changed... Their armor..._ She shook her head. _It wasn't clean, if that makes any sense. It wasn't bio-tech like ours. Or if it was..._ She sighed. _I don't know._

_You are tired._ Frost said gently. _You need to rest, sister._

_I am terrified of what I am going to dream tonight, Frost._ Nyx said sadly, then froze as someone knocked on her door. "What the-?" She snapped. "I will be right there!" She called. _Master Hayden, no luck on the Lotus, but I will be in contact._

_Call every few hours. _Hayden commanded._ If I don't hear from you, I am coming with everyone I can get hold of quickly._

_That may be what they want. _Nyx cautioned him, but his mind voice was gone as the person knocking did it again. _Frost?_

The other warframe rose and moved into the bathroom, where he stood in the shadows, his rifle now in hand. Nyx moved to the door, her pistol in hand. She looked through the peephole and somehow was not surprised to see Miensa standing there, Tom and Talia at her side. None of them looked unhappy, but none looked relaxed either. Nyx groaned, checked her holo and then opened the door a crack.

"Yes?" Nyx said calmly.

"We need to talk, Ma'am." Miensa said in a no nonsense tone. "May we come in?" Nyx paused and then a gentle nudge in her mind told her Frost was ready. Nyx nodded and held the door open. Miensa nodded and entered, her hand on Talia's arm. The girl looked worried, but her eyes were clear despite the bandage on her head.

"My brother is in the bathroom." Nyx said calmly as she moved to let the three in, then shut the door behind Tom.

"I assume he has a bead on us." Miensa said with a nod. "Good. Paranoia is a good thing right now." She patted Talia's arm and the girl sat on the bed. Tom moved to the window, checked the curtain and stepped back.

"Are you all right, Talia?" Nyx asked, concerned.

"Scared." Talia admitted. "And very confused." Nyx smiled at her and Talia relaxed a bit.

"I know the feeling." Nyx said with a nod. "But I will do what I can to keep you safe." She looked at Miensa and... She paused, and _looked_ at Miensa. The mercenary was not standing like a mercenary now. She was...watchful. Agent watchful. A trained predator, far more capable than any merc. "You were not surprised by Rhino or what he called me. SVR?" Nyx asked slowly.

"We work for Lasrian Intelligence. Our division is informally called Lotus." Miensa said calmly. "So no, not SVR although we have worked with them quite a bit."

"Lotus! Both of you?" Nyx asked, thinking hard. Tom nodded from his post near the window.

"It's a good cover." Miensa said without apology. "It helps that we _are_ married. What Tom told you is true. He came for the clean up, we met. He immigrated... And I recruited him."

"And you were available when Talia asked for guards." Nyx said with a nod. Miensa nodded. "Planned?"

"No." Miensa shook her head ruefully. "We didn't know who you were." Miensa said softly. "You are very good. We didn't have a _clue_ who you were until Rhino called you by name. Galina and Marlena are not uncommon names." She said gently as Nyx recoiled a bit. "You do have my condolences."

"That boy who was leading the...things." Nyx said slowly, her mind working at lightspeed. "That was Josef, wasn't it?" Miensa nodded and Nyx sighed. "He looked like Nicolai, my older brother. But too young. Nicolai _is_ dead. Do you know what happened to Josef?"

"No." Miensa said softly. "He appeared about eighteen months ago, leading that gang. They call themselves 'The Chosen'." Nyx blew out a deep breath and Miensa nodded. "It took us six months and two good undercover operatives' lives to find out his name. But chosen by who...or what? We have no idea."

"And Rhino?" Nyx asked after a moment.

"Ah, yes... Rhino..." Miensa said softly. "He appeared shortly after that. After...a breach at the Vault."

"_What?_" Nyx snapped, her fatigue vanishing in a rush of adrenaline. "The _Vault_? As in the _stockpile_ of Infect _materials_ that the Soviets sealed underground and _left_ after the mess in 1987? _That_ Vault?" Miensa nodded and Nyx cursed. "You have _got_ to be kidding. And you _didn't_ contact us?" She demanded.

"We thought he was one of you." Miensa said softly. "We didn't figure out otherwise for almost a year."

"Oh dear..." Nyx said, shaking her head. "Frost!" She called and Frost came out of the bathroom, his rifle still in hand. Talia gave a squeak, but Nyx shook her head. "He won't hurt you, Talia." She turned to her brother. "Go. Check it out. Carefully. Don't be seen." Frost nodded, went to the door and like a breath of cold wind, was gone. Miensa, Tom and Talia stared at Nyx who shook her head.

"How many of you...?" Miensa paused and shook her head. "No. No, don't tell me. What I don't know I can't spill, by accident or on orders.

"So..." Nyx said softly. "Why is Talia here?"

"She is running a fever." Miensa said softly. Nyx stiffened and the intelligence operative nodded. "She was bleeding."

"I hit a rock when I fell." Talia said with a sigh. "I am fine." She declared.

"Talia..." Nyx said softly. "We cannot take any chances. This virus... If Josef and the others have it..." She shook her head.

"I am not sick." Talia protested. "It's just a fever."

"May I touch you?" Nyx asked quietly.

"What good will...?" Talia started to say tartly, then froze as Nyx dropped her illusionary camouflage. "Ah..." She went still as Nyx knelt in front of her. Tom and Miensa did not move. Wise of them as keyed up as Nyx was.

"Talia, my name is not Galina now." Nyx said gently. "It's Nyx. All of what I told you is true, but... not complete. I escaped the virus, but was taken by people who wanted to experiment with it. I was used as a lab rat." Talia swallowed heavily but Nyx shook her head. "That will not happen to you. Not now. Not ever." She declared quietly. "If you do have the virus, my family can stop it. If it...changes you... that cannot be undone. The sooner we find out if you have it, the better." She reached out with a slow hand to take Talia's. "I won't hurt you." She promised.

"I am not sick." Talia said softly. She went stiff as Nyx nodded and sighed in relief.

"No you are not. You have a minor concussion and bleeding causing mild intracranial pressure and an increase in temperature." Nyx said quietly. "But you are not infected with the Technocyte virus. Put away your gun, Miensa. Now." Nyx snapped. Talia stared from the Tenno to where the intelligence operative was holstering her pistol, which had been hidden in a fold of her jacket.

"You..." Talia swallowed. "You would have shot me." It wasn't a question.

"Death by gunshot is a far more merciful fate than the virus." Miensa said sadly. "We... Tom and I...saw too much, Talia. We would not let you suffer that fate."

"I..." Talia swallowed but nodded. "Thank you." Miensa nodded back. "Now what?"

"I need to ask Miensa and Tom some questions, then I want to talk to you, okay?" Nyx asked, patting the bed. "You need rest to heal. Go on, lie down. I am here and I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Why?" Talia asked. "Why help me?"

"When I was your age, my mentor, Yargo, was shot and killed." Miensa inhaled sharply and Nyx nodded. "You knew him." She said to the intelligence woman. It was not a question.

"He helped found our organization." Miensa said with a sigh. "When he died... Well... We were bit upset. We looked for his ward, Galina, but she had disappeared." She shook her head "I can't say I am surprised. That old man had plans within plans and tricks within tricks."

"That he did." Nyx said as Talia stretched out and tried to relax. "You out the capsule in Katrina?"

"One of our people in Buenos Aires overheard her speaking to her companions, saying they were going to seek the Tenno." Miensa said with a nod. "We were getting more and more worried with what was happening. We had heard that Irina had passed. She was our only contact." Miensa shook her head. "We were promised that the capsule would be painless and not harmful. She is okay?" Nyx nodded and Miensa sighed in relief. "Good. Enough innocents have been hurt already."

"So... the only person who knew about your organization was Irina." Nyx said softly. "And she lived and breathed secrecy. I bet there is a time sensitive file somewhere waiting for me..." She mused. "Likely with contact information for your organization. Why didn't you try to make contact some other way?"

"We try to make contact every time we hear of Tenno operations." Miensa said with a grimace. "Many operatives who have tried got caught up in anti-Tenno mobs. Two of them just disappeared." Nyx nodded soberly. "It is not a coincidence that the mobs have increased in size and ferocity since the Vault breach, I do not think. What the-?" She and Tom both drew their weapons as a golden archway appeared on the wall.

"Lower your weapons." Nyx said sharply. "Now." Both did as a female form stepped through the doorway and it winked out of existence. "What the-?"

"Hello Nyx." The female warframe said in a familiar voice. Lynn! "Hayden said you needed medical aid." But it was wrong. The warframe was wrong. It was...dirty!

"Ah..." Nyx paused and then shook her head as she rose and drew her pistol. "You are not Lynn."

"Drat." The female imposter said sharply and raised a hand...

* * *

Nyx struggled back to consciousness, aware of a fleshy mass that surrounded her. She struggled, fighting with every fiber of her being.

"This is stupid, master." The voice of the one that she knew was her little brother sounded close at hand. Josef's voice held scorn. "Just break her bones. She is not going to stop fighting."

"Shut up." A familiar hated voice sounded to Nyx's ears and she went still. "She can hear us. Marlena, Yargo was not supposed to die. We were trying not to kill him." She did not respond. "Give her some encouragement." Pain arced through Nyx's body but she ignored it, refusing to cry out. "More." He commanded.

"Master..." The female voice from before sounded nearby. "From these readings, she will die before she cries out or submits."

"Shut it, Belina." The voice of Agent Jackson, the man who had caused Yargo Mensik's death and hounded Galina across two continents sounded again. "I know you admire her, but we need her to access the Citadel. Everything hinges on that."

Nyx went still at that. If this scum had figured out how to access an alternate dimension like Hayden could, then they could very well access the Citadel. And if they took her fellow Tenno by surprise... Nyx tried to cast her mind out but something went click nearby and her mind went fuzzy.

"She just tried to contact them!" Josef snapped. "Break her now!" Pain arced through Nyx again, but this time she rode it instead of fighting it. She directed the energy to specific places in her body. Nerve clusters. Muscle paths. Searing, closing... killing.

"Stop!" The female voice sounded scared. "She is arresting!" Indeed, darkness was seeping around her. Welcoming darkness. Pain flared and the woman cried out. "Josef! No! Stop!"

"She will not get away that easily!" Nyx's former brother snapped. "We will try an alternate form of persuasion! Bring the human girl!" A scream sounded from a familiar voice. Talia. Nyx felt something pulled from her.

Suddenly Nyx could see. She was in a cave somewhere. She was still in her warframe, but it was encased upright in something that moved as she tried to, muffling even her augmented strength. The only part that was free was her faceplate.

"Hello sis." A dark form stood nearby, Talia's struggling form hanging in his hands. "Good to see you again." Josef mocked her. She just looked at him, silent.

Nyx's eyes flicked to the side where a female form stood, wringing her hands. She wore what looked sort of like a warframe, but not quite. She wore no helmet and her eyes were frightened. Then Nyx looked at the other form. This one was seated on a large mass of flesh. Agent Jackson looked like hell. His skin was pale and drawn with age and pain.

"There is no need for this, Marlena." Jackson said softly. "We want to end the wars, end the strife, bring humanity into a new age. An age of peace, of reason. We need access to your Citadel's systems for that. You are going to help us." Nyx just looked at him and he sighed. "This doesn't have to be hard, Marlena. We don't want to hurt you." Nyx looked from him to Josef and back, then sniffed derisively. Jackson sighed again. "We...erred with your brother."

"You made me strong." Josef said, lifting Talia's struggling from over his head. "What do you say, Marlena? Want to make a wish?"

Instead of answering, Nyx cast out with her mind at the speed of thought, seeking, finding, controlling. The woman at the side jerked and then spun, Nyx's pistol appearing in her hand. Before the machinery could stun Nyx again, the woman emptied Nyx's pistol into something that sparked.

"Belina!" Jackson snapped. The woman screamed, clutched her head and fell to her knees and then to the floor when she lay still, blood coming from her nose and ears. "No..." He said, ashen faced as the mass that was holding Nyx suddenly flew off as she pulsed her shields. Nyx landed in a crouch and rose slowly to her feet.

"You Tenno just don't know when to quit!" Josef snapped. "Move and this one dies, sister!" He said as he shifted Talia so he held her neck in his hands, ready to snap it.

"My name is Nyx." Nyx said softly. "You are no brother of mine." He snarled as Nyx bent down to pick up her pistol, slapping a new clip in automatically. "You asked me to make a wish?" She said softly, taking aim at his head. "I wish the man who _was_ my brother was not going to die in the next few seconds. But... We can't always get what we want." Talia gave a shriek as Josef pulled her around between Nyx's pistol and himself. "You really are a coward." Nyx commented.

"There is no need for this, Marlena." Jackson said soothingly. "You cannot win. I have fifty Chosen here." The walls came alive as forms in pseudo warframes stepped out of the darkness to surround Nyx. "We are trying to make a better world. One mind, one purpose. One...Sentience. Join us."

"No." Nyx said quietly, taking careful aim at Josef's elbow.

"I am not giving you a choice, Marlena." Jackson said, his face flushing. "Join us. Now." Power -monumental power- suddenly slammed into Nyx, hurling her to her knees. "We could have done this the easy way. Let me show you the _hard_ way..."

She was weakening as the power hitting her intensified. But then, a whirring sound was heard and Jackson screamed as a familiar circular thing came flying out to cut two of the Chosen down before they could even flinch. Hayden's Glaive! Then one of the others fell, cut in half and the body was kicked into the light.

"I _believe_ the lady said 'No'." Rhino said as he came out of the darkness, Hayden at his side. Frost, Ash, Ember and Mag all came out of the darkness as well to stand by their leader and the not Tenno with him. "Where I am from, when a lady says 'no', it means 'no'." Nyx nodded as she regained her feet.

"Tenno!" Jackson screamed as Mag raised her hand and Talia's limp form flew from Josef's hands to Mag's outstretched ones. "You can't! Not now! Not when we are so _close_!"

"Watch us." Nyx said with a snarl as she charged, her kin at her heels.


	30. Chapter 30

**Savage Concepts**

It wasn't really a battle. For all Josef's bluster, the Chosen were utterly outclassed. Tenno trained hard, fought hard and more importantly, fought as a team. The Chosen, while vicious, were a mob of disorganized individuals. They had little chance. Nyx was lost in the fight, with only moments of lucidity as thunder and bursts of energy swirled around her.

She watched, temporarily winded after throwing psychic bolts at an enemy as Rhino charged into a mob of Chosen, his axe sweeping bodies and body parts away as he took their blows and returned them magnified. Then they all stilled into immobility, each of them rimed with white. Nyx looked to the side and yes, Frost's arm was up. Her ice wielding brother was surrounded by still forms that he carved into with his dual skanas. Rhino disdained subtlety and slammed the ones surrounding him with his axe, shattering many of them and throwing the survivors into a pile of mess. A pile that he then jumped on. The...squishing sounds made Nyx want to gag, but she was busy as a Chosen came at her, oddly shaped nunchuku spinning in hand. Nyx backpedaled, she had no weapon but her pistol. It was coming up, but then the Chosen seemed to pause and then fell over, a dark shadow barely visible behind him as Ash rolled away and into another group of bad guys, blade slicing. Nyx paused as screams came from the side and bright orange licks of flame heralded Ember's sudden arrival.

"Here." Ember's voice was harsh as she handed Nyx a skana. "I don't think we will need you though. These guys are _pathetic_."

"Classic bullies." Nyx agreed. "Or a street gang with delusions of grandeur. Dangerous, but no discipline at all. Orders?"

"Cleanse." Ember said with a snarl. "This is a petulant wound, in Lynn's words. Clean it out." Then she screamed as gunshots sounded. Nyx caught her falling sister and snarled at the chosen who had found an AK-74 somewhere.

"Make yourself useful!" Nyx snapped as she took control of his mind. He bent over, clutching his head and then turned on his companions. The ones with firearms opened fire on him and quickly, the melee was general. Nyx took cover and focused on Ember. "How bad?" She asked as she dragged Ember's limp form to the side.

"Not too bad." Ember said with a gulp. "Mid back, not full penetration. Clean and not poisoned. I am okay." She snapped as Nyx dithered for a moment. "Go! We have to end this!"

"We have her." Nyx nearly shot a form that simply oozed from the darkness. It resolved into a woman wearing human combat armor and night vision goggles. She carried a Korbov assault rifle in a professional grip. "We have Talia too. She is alive. Go, Nyx!" Miensa commanded as two others forms in body armor appeared, rifles ready to stand protectively by Ember.

"You cross me and there is nowhere on this planet or _off_ it you can hide." Nyx promised as she stepped back into the fray. "Josef!" She snapped at where she saw her brother striking at Mag, a clumsy looking sword dancing in his hands. Mag was deflecting his attacks with along staff made of metal. She was playing with him. She was lethal with that staff of hers. "He is mine!" She called to Mag who connected with a deceptively mild looking strike that somehow threw Josef off his feet to skid towards Nyx. "Mother would turn you over her knee, you brat."

"You are nothing." Josef said, rising. "Less than..." Everything stopped as a scream tore from an inhuman throat and every eye turned to where Agent Jackson sat, a razor sharp metal spur protruding from his chest. Hayden's Glaive twitched and then returned to its master who stood, a sawed off shotgun in his other hand."No!" Josef screamed. "No!" For a moment, Nyx felt hope, but then the ground started to shake and Josef started to cackle maniacally. "The master rises!" Josef crowed in triumph. "You will all fall!"

Nyx felt faint as a huge misshapen form erupted out of the ground. It...wasn't Infected. It looked like metal. But the metal was...wrong. Dirty. Like the pseudo warframes that the Chosen wore, Nyx realized. It had multiple tentacles that each ended in vicious claws and Nyx felt even fainter as she recognized a metal version of Mezner's final madness. Hayden had spoken of the horrors he had faced in the Dark Sector of Lasria. He has always done so in hushed tones and had always said that luck -and Mezner's insanity- had played huge roles in his survival.

"We need electrical energy!" Hayden called as he retreated. "Everyone back. Find a transformer!"

"You..." The voice was everywhere, and nowhere. It was everything. "You destroy my servants! Tenno! You will serve." But the other Tenno were charging the tentacles, bullets, sharp metal and elements flying. Nyx focused on Josef as he jumped at her, falling backward so her feet met his belly and tossing him away with both legs. Something hit her belly armor as he flew, but she ignored it.

"I don't know what that thing did to you, you poor misguided excuse for a human." Nyx said quietly as she rolled to her feet, skana in one hand, Lato in the other. "But this ends now."

"You are weak!" Josef declared, slamming to his feet, metal tendrils extending from his hands to solidify in sword shapes. "You are..." The sound of a gunshot was loud and he stared at Nyx, his eyes confused as she looked at him over the sights of her smoking Lato. "You..." He stared down at the hole in his chest armor. The one that was leaking rust colored fluid. "I..." His voice sounded suddenly uncertain.

"Goodbye Josef." Nyx said sadly as she pulled the trigger. The bullet threw Josef's head back, a red hole appearing on his unarmored forehead. "And that is why you wear a helmet." She fired again and again and again, each bullet driving him back another step. But he did not fall.

"You are weak." The shattered voicebox somehow produced sound from the ruined face but Nyx was not moved. She stepped forward and her skana sliced cleanly, the head of the monster that had taken her brother's form flying off to roll until it stopped at Nyx's foot. It was still moving, the mouth.

"Maybe I am." Nyx admitted. "But _you _are dead." She emptied the clip into the head, reloaded and then did it again until the skull was nothing but red paste.

"Nyx?" Mag's voice was hesitant. Nyx looked to see the others still engaging the metal monstrosity. It seemed an even match. She looked to where Mag was watching her, her sister's posture worried.

"My human brother died a long time ago, Mag." Nyx said calmly as she reloaded her pistol. "Thank you." She said with a nod. "I needed to be the one to do it." Mag nodded.

"Don't bandy it about." Mag said with a snap. "I have a rep to maintain." A scream came and both Tenno spun to see Frost down, a red hole in his armor.

"Enough." Nyx snapped. "Mag, get him clear." Nyx felt an overpowering calm descend upon her as she stepped forward. Mag grabbed Frost with energy and pulled him from the fight. "Hey, big ugly monster! Leave my kin alone!" Nyx yelled.

"You will serve!" Two of the tentacles were limp on the ground, but others were writhing, deflecting Hayden and Ash's attacks. Rhino was hacking at one that he had stepped on, holding it in place as it tried to squirm out from under his feet. Hayden was dodging bolts of green energy and Ash, well, he was blipping in and out of invisibility, striking and vanishing.

"We _do_ serve." Nyx said with a snarl. "But not you. Never you." She dropped her defenses, focused all of her power into one massive spike of energy and threw it at the monstrous form. It gave out a bloodcurdling scream and jerked in place as Nyx's power slammed into it, green energy making a corona around it. "Go for the _heart_!" Nyx called as she forced her mind on the alien creature, forced it to arc itself, become vulnerable. It retaliated, spiky red torments flying into her mind, but she kept the power on as she screamed in agony.

"Good idea!" Rhino called back, irate. "Where _is_ the ****ing heart on this...?" He broke off as Hayden's Glaive cut through a mass of metal. It fell off, parts around the gaping hole moving as Nyx directed the creature's anatomy to. A pulsating mass of flesh shone underneath. "Thanks." Rhino called.

His axe spun through the air, right behind Hayden's glaive. Both hit and the organ, heart, whatever it was became a greasy splatter. The monster gave another of the unearthly shrieks and then shuddered and went limp. Rhino charged in, grabbed his axe and then raised a massive armored boot. Nyx held on, held the enemy in place as Rhino's boot came down. The monster's deathcry hit her like a hammer between the eyes however and she never felt herself hit the ground.

* * *

"Nyx?" The voice was familiar. Female, young and scared. "Come on, Nyx. Come, you have to wake up..." Nyx focused as a small hand shook her. "Come on!" Talia was crying. Nyx groaned and Talia's voice turned from fearful to jubilant. "Yes! You are alive!"

"I don't...feel alive..." Nyx said with a grunt as she forced her eyes to open. What met them was horror. She was looking up, and up, and up at the still form of the monster the Tenno had been fighting. It wasn't moving. "Ember? Frost?" She begged.

"Everyone is alive, Nyx." Hayden said as he entered her field of view. "Thanks to you."

"You and Rhino killed it." Nyx said with a grunt as something seemed to grate inside her. "Ow..."

"It's skin was impervious to almost everything we tried." Hayden said with a sigh. "Even Rhino could barely dent it with that axe of his. The rest of us were wasting our time until you stunned it, got it to open up."

"Rhino..." Nyx said, looking around. She saw him kneeling beside a still form in a dirty pseudo warframe. Nyx recognized the female she had taken control of to destroy the machine holding her. "How did you find me?"

"Rhino knew where the lair was. He just couldn't beat them all by himself." Hayden said quietly. "As soon as we arrived, he made himself known and we came in after you." Nyx looked at him and he chuckled without humor. "I _told_ you I was going to check in every hour. Frost checked the Vault, and made his way back just in time to scare the scum who took you and Talia away in that portal. He kept the Lotus agents from being taken. They called for backup. He called us and we came running."

"Ember?" Nyx asked, not seeing her sister.

"Evacuated with Frost. We all warned her that the armor was weak." Hayden said with a sigh. "Maybe she will believe us this time. She will be okay. Frost too." Nyx nodded and felt faint. "Don't move too much." Hayden warned her.

"How bad?" Nyx asked, swallowing.

"Bad enough that we are not going to move you until the trauma team at the Citadel is ready." Hayden said with a snarl. "We really need to get more medical support into the warframes."

"Offense or defense..." Nyx said with a sigh. "Always tradeoffs." She took a deep breath. "Rhino..." She called weakly. The huge warframe rose and turned back to her. "She is not dead." He froze in place as she gasped.

"She doesn't have a pulse." Rhino said, his voice harsh. "She is dead."

"No, she is not!" Nyx shouted, then coughed. Talia looked worried and Hayden strode to stand by Nyx. "I took control of her. I could feel...her fear. Her rage. Her pain. Her longing for...her husband..." Hayden went still and Rhino paused, looking at them. "Lynn can help Belina. She is in stasis. We can help her!" She begged the silent warframe.

"Why?" Rhino asked softly. "You could have destroyed her mind."

"I nearly did." Nyx gasped. "But then... I realized she was a slave. The others served willingly. She fought. She did." Nyx pressed when Rhino shook his head. "She was overmatched, Rhino. _Anyone_ can be. Even _you_." She pleaded.

"She tried to trap me." Rhino said, his tone soft, disbelieving. As if he and Nyx were the only ones there. "More than once."

"She was a slave, you idiot!" Nyx snapped, her ire up. "She didn't have a choice! Richard, don't be _stupid_. She _loves_ you." Rhino stared down at the form at his feet and then at Nyx. Then he looked at Hayden, who shrugged.

"She speak for you?" Rhino asked softly.

"She does." Hayden said, his gaze speculative. "Not quite the _way_ I would have said it, but yes. She speaks for all of us."

"Two years..." Rhino said as he slumped a bit. "Almost two _years_ I have been trying to find a way to get her back. Ever since she opened that stupid golden door and she _had_ to see what was on the other side." He made a noise of remembered pain. "We go through, there were bunch of those 'Chosen' there and...I tried... I tried to fight... Then they put the armor on her and it wasn't _her_ anymore. When they did it to me... This happened..." He waved at himself.

"You had... more control... We can get her back. Master Hayden..." Nyx gasped as pain flared. "They are lost. Alone. They have the virus. They need _help_." She begged.

"Easy, Nyx." Hayden said gently. "You made your point." He chuckled a bit sourly. "Not that I want to fight Rhino anyway. Would be a _mess_." Hayden nodded to where Rhino still stood as if frozen. "You -and your wife- are welcome to come. She needs help and I bet you need some too."

"I don't have any money." Rhino said softly. "To everyone I knew... I am dead."

"So am I." Nyx said in a weak voice. "Hasn't stopped me. Won't...stop..." Something went snap inside her and she heard raised voices as the world went away again.

* * *

When next Nyx could see, she was lying on a bed in a familiar room. She was wearing a patient gown instead of her warframe and felt like someone had used her for hammer practice. Machinery was attached to her, IVs, plumbing, monitors... She had been here for a while. One of the ICU rooms of the Citadel medical ward and Katrina sat beside her bed, her face engrossed in a holo of a book.

"Studying?" Nyx asked in a whisper that seemed to be all she could manage. Katrina stared at Nyx and the girl's face it up. "Good girl."

"Nyx!" Katrina said joyfully. "You are awake." Her book vanished and she took one of Nyx's hands in hers, gently as if afraid Nyx would break.

"Sort of." Nyx said softly. "How long...?"

"Almost a month." Katrina said, her face scared. "You were so still, so pale... I..." She dashed tears away with her free hand.

"A month?" Nyx asked, stunned.

"Multiple broken bones, massive neural trauma." Lynn's voice preceded the woman into the room. But... This wasn't the Lynn Nyx knew. This woman wore a warframe! "And you depleted your energy reserves quite thoroughly. Don't scare us like that, Nyx."

"I..." Nyx swallowed heavily. "What do I call you?" She asked softly, scrutinizing the frame. It spun in place so she could see it, she could imagine Lynn smiling inside the helmet. It had gold like all the others she knew in places. It also had an odd...tail-like skirt.

"Call me Trinity, Nyx." The other warframe said quietly. "I was never really religious, but I am a healer. It was pointed out to me, quite loudly, that if I had been there, Ember and Frost wouldn't have been hurt so badly. That we wouldn't have nearly lost you." Nyx went still and Trinity nodded. "I am not a fighter, but this warframe is geared for healing. Something you _really_ could have used." She said as she stepped to the bed. Katrina made way for her. "I am sorry my stupid, stubborn pride kept me from being there to help, Nyx."

"You are who you are... Trinity." Nyx said softly. "Don't change on my account. Please?"

"I didn't change for _you_." Trinity said sourly. "I changed for Talia. That girl...scares me Nyx."

"What?" Nyx asked softly, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You will see." Trinity promised as she ran her hands over Nyx, obviously scanning. "Well, your vitals look better. How do you feel?" She asked.

"No pain." Nyx said after a moment. "A bit of fatigue, but if I have been in the bed for a month..." She swallowed heavily. "Really?"

"You came closer to dying than anyone else I have ever seen, Nyx." Trinity said, helping her sit up. The bed inclined behind Nyx as Trinity let her go. "What you did..." She shook her head ."I am sorry about Josef."

"Yeah." Nyx said with a sigh then paused. "Oh...Belina?" She asked, worried.

"Ask her yourself." Trinity said with a smile in her voice as the door behind her opened and a form in a lab coat entered the room, carrying a tray. "We need you up and mobile as soon as possible, Nyx."

"Belina?" Nyx asked, seeing the smiling face of the woman she had controlled. "You okay?"

"Better than okay. I am alive and free and my husband is here." Belina replied evenly. "I brought you dinner." She set the tray down on a table nearby and stepped to the bedside. "Thank you, Nyx." Belina said, her eyes glistening. "I don't know if I can ever bring myself to wear anything like a warframe again, but you saved me. I will pay my debt."

"You owe me nothing." Nyx said as she sat back. "I did what I had to."

"We will argue about that after." Belina said with a glint in her eye that promised the discussion was far from over. She gave Nyx's hand a squeeze, then stepped back."For now, you need to eat, then you are expected."

"Expected?" Nyx asked cautiously as Katrina pulled the tray table close and swung it over the bed. "By who and for what?"

"In order..." Trinity said softly. "By Talia and to face our future."

"Ooookaaaay." Nyx said as she reached for the plates with a trembling hand. "Hint?"

"Let's just say the world turned on its ear again." Trinity replied. "But...not in bad way." She hastened to say when Nyx froze. "You are specifically requested, but also told to take your time."

"You are being cryptic, Trinity." Nyx complained as she started to eat.

"I am in shock myself." Trinity replied. "But you will see. Once you are done eating, we will unhook you and get you to your audience."

"My...audience?" Nyx asked, fork halfway to her mouth. Trinity, Katrina and Belina all nodded and Nyx swallowed heavily before continuing to eat.

"You are not alone, Nyx." Trinity promised. "Not now, not ever, sister."

"We are with you, sister." Katrina said softly as Nyx felt her eyes start to burn. Belina nodded as well.

"Well, the sooner I get done, the sooner you medical types have your wicked way with me and I can figure out what you are talking around." Nyx said with a sigh, then focused on her meal.


	31. Chapter 31

**Gathered**

Nyx was very embarrassed. She had obviously been in the bed for some time, her body was weaker than she ever remembered it being. Nothing hurt, she just had the strength of a newborn kitten. Trinity promised that Nyx would recover quickly and Nyx believed her sister, but still. The plumbing was inconvenient and the fact that she had to use a wheelchair was downright annoying. At least it was powered, so she didn't need someone pushing her. But even then, she was shaking in both fatigue and worry as she passed a door that the others guided her to. All of the others remained outside as the door worked. She entered the room and stopped short, stunned.

"Hello Nyx." The woman who stood at the other end of the hall was familiar, but...not. It was Talia, but... She wore a beautiful golden gown and had some kind of odd golden headpiece on her head. "Come in."

"Talia?" Nyx asked as she powered the chair forward. "You look...good." She said, cursing her tangled tongue.

"I know you are confused, Nyx." Talia said with a kind smile. "I am too, but when Hayden and the others came to me and asked me to do this..." She shrugged. "My response was to ask myself 'What would Nyx say'? You would have said 'Yes'. So I did."

"I don't understand." Nyx said with a small quaver. Talia smiled at her gently and Nyx relaxed a bit. "What has happened?"

"I got a job offer I couldn't refuse." Talia said then shook her head ."I am being rude. Come in, come in." She waved to Nyx and Nyx rolled her chair closer to the younger woman. "How do you feel?"

"Weak but whole." Nyx said calmly. "You?"

"I wasn't hurt except for that bump on my head." Talia said with a wince, touching her head. "Josef didn't actually hurt me. Well, he did, but nothing permanent. Some bruises and a few strained muscles. Nothing more and nothing that Trinity's skill couldn't cure quickly." Her smile turned sad. "I thought we had lost you, Nyx." She said, her eyes glistening. "I didn't think I would ever be able to thank you."

"I did my job." Nyx said quietly. "No more."

"I know." Talia said with a smile as she stepped forward to take Nyx's hands in her own. "But that doesn't change the fact that you did help me. I don't remember you stopping Mr. Demitrov from hitting me, but the video records Miensa found doesn't lie." Nyx froze and Talia smiled. "It's okay. We have them. No one else has copies."

"Good." Nyx said with a swallow. "The last thing we need is more anti-Tenno sentiments."

"Well..." Talia grinned and her face was more the woman Nyx had met in Lasria. "That seems to have vanished with the collapse of the Chosen and the death of their master. For which, I also have to thank you." Nyx sighed and Talia shook her head ."Oh no..." She said sharply. "You do not get to wiggle out of that. The others, even Rhino, could not hurt the thing until you made it convulse. Until you exposed it's heart, it was almost impervious to attacks. I watched. It was all I could do." Talia said sadly. "I am not a soldier, not Tenno."

"Good." Nyx said quietly. Talia gave her hands a shake. "What?"

"I have talked with Hayden, Trinity and the others. Even Mag." Talia said with a fake grimace that had Nyx chuckling. "I know what happened to you, to Trinity... And what is worse? I know why. This...virus is a horrible thing. But it is also a powerful weapon. If religious fanatics get their hands on it..." She shuddered and Nyx shared it.

"Hayden spent a great deal of time and effort making sure it stayed out of anyone's hands but ours." Nyx agreed. "One of our recurring nightmare scenarios in training was religious fundamentalists releasing it as 'God's Wrath' or something."

"Yes." Talia said softly. "For very, very long time, humanity as a whole has focused on negativity. The entire twentieth century was a mass of war and horror on a scale never before seen. The Technocyte virus hasn't changed any of that." Nyx nodded soberly, but stiffened as Talia smiled. "But _we_ will."

"Ah..." Nyx swallowed and kept her mouth shut.

"Wondering if I am going to start gibbering, frothing at the mouth or eating the paint?" Talia asked with a twinkle in her eye, her smile disappearing. She nodded at Nyx's dumbfounded expression. "I have questioned my own sanity since Hayden and the others dropped this on me. It took them almost a week of demolishing every argument I could come up with for me to give even preliminary approval. But now..." Talia shook her head. "We need it, but it won't be easy."

"What 'it'?" Nyx asked softly.

"Humanity is at a crossroads, Nyx." Talia said softly. "The technology is out there. Too many people have access to it now. The Tenno have done herculean efforts in keeping the wrong uses of the technology under wraps but you cannot do it alone. And now, you don't have to." She said, patting Nyx's hands. She took a step back and nodded to Nyx. "I know you studied a lot, Nyx. What would you say is the best form of government for humans?"

"One without humans." Nyx said sourly. Talia laughed lightly, but shook her head and Nyx sighed. "Democracy only works for people who are invested in it. People with money will always dominate any democracy. For good or ill, those with the gold make the rules." Talia nodded but remained silent. "Dictatorships..." Nyx sighed. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps one generation may survive as benevolent? But they will fall to decay and anarchy eventually. Monarchies..." She paused, then stared at the thing on Talia's head. A crown? "No way..." She said, stunned.

"A constitutional monarchy has a number of benefits." Talia said calmly. "The people get a say in the running of the government. And if the government gets out of hand, well..." She shrugged. "That is what the monarch is for, a check and balance on the government. Hopefully one that is never used." Nyx felt her mouth all open and Talia laughed delightedly. "Close your mouth, dear. Flies will get in."

"You... I..." Nyx swallowed heavily. "What?" She asked, beyond shock.

"Ah. Nyx..." Talia said quietly. "You Tenno have sworn to serve. You have fought and bled and nearly died many times to protect a humanity that fears you. But the technology that created you is out there. The knowledge of the virus cannot be contained."

"We have done our best." Nyx protested faintly.

"And the Tenno's best is beyond _anyone's_ fondest hopes." Talia said gently. "But you _cannot_ be everywhere. You _cannot_ do it all. You need help and it is time humanity as a whole stepped up to shoulder it's burdens."

"I don't understand." Nyx said, feeling dizzy. Talia knelt down beside her chair, putting her head level with Nyx's.

"Nyx, with so many people pursuing the technology, it was going to come out sooner or later." Talia said softly. "Even without the virus that you Tenno have fought so hard to keep under control, other advances in technology have swept the world in recent years. I don't know if you have seen it."

"I have." Nyx said with a shiver.

Nanotechnology. It was both a boon and a curse. It made manufacturing things simple, made many horrible diseases and injuries about to be cured literally overnight. But it also opened the door for horrors like the Technocyte virus. Lynn had been quietly distributing medical technology to specific colleagues for experimentation and duplication for years. Mag hadn't wanted to give up her toys, but Nova was a well known figure in the world of physics, if a normally anonymous one. Hayden hadn't tried to stop any of them, indeed, he had encouraged Nova, Saryn and Lynn -Trinity, Nyx kicked herself to remember- to spread the knowledge.

"The world is ripe for change." Talia said softly. "The monster that controlled Agent Jackson was right about the need for change. Hayden told me about that man did to your mentor..." She said with a sad frown. "What he tried to do to you."

"It wasn't human." Nyx said with a shiver. "The mind...wasn't human. I don't know what it was. But it wasn't human."

"No one does." Talia agreed sadly. "None of the samples that have been recovered -carefully-" She said as Nyx jerked. "...can be identified. For now, he is gone. Good riddance." Nyx had to smile at Talia's sour tone. "But Nyx... Humanity is falling apart. The anti-Tenno sentiment has faded, but ethnic violence and the number of disputes between countries has increased significantly."

"The situation is going to get worse when those with axes to grind realize they can settle old scores." Nyx said with a sigh. "I... What can we do?"

"It's not your job, Nyx of the Tenno." Talia said kindly. "It's mine."

"Huh?" Nyx asked intelligently.

"What humanity needs, to find their way to the light that most of them aspire to, is a guide." Talia said with a nod as she stepped back. "I am mortal. I am fallible. I make mistakes. This is not one." Nyx stared as Talia was suddenly glowing _gold_! Bright gold. Bright enough to dazzle Nyx's eyes for a moment.

"Talia..." Nyx breathed, horrified.

"It doesn't hurt, Nyx." Talia said softly. "When Hayden proposed this, I thought it would. It doesn't. I am still human, but...augmented. I am still the girl you met in Lasria, but I am also...more. Much more. I am the Lotus."

"Why?" Nyx asked, tears falling both from the dazzling light and sorrow.

"Hayden said it and it makes sense." Talia said calmly, dimming her light. "To most people, I am just a girl. We will need to prove to the world that I am an Empress."

"_Empress?_" Nyx asked, incredulous.

"That was what _I_ said." Talia said with a smirk. "Minus the rural Ukrainian swearwords of course." But then she became serious. "Nyx, no one will take me seriously, even if I show up with an honor guard of Tenno until and unless I act the part. Hayden and I are creating a world government. Not a toothless wonder like the League of Nations that was glommed together after World War I. Not the unholy mess of bureaucracy that the United Nations became after World War II. A constitutional monarchy. And I said 'yes' when Hayden asked me to be the monarch."

"Talia... I..." Nyx shook her head, stunned beyond words. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything, my friend." Talia said as she came back to Nyx's side. "I will need help." Her face fell and she looked her age for a moment, scared and alone.

"Anything I can do." Nyx promised, holding out her hands. "Empress... Talia... Um.. Empress of _what_?"

"Welcome to Orokin, Nyx." Talia said, taking the Tenno's hands.

"Orokin?" Nyx asked dubiously.

"Well, yeah." Talia looked a bit abashed. "We wanted to find something that wouldn't upset too many people. 'Oro' is Spanish for gold, a metal with great value despite its softness and lack of basic utility. It's pretty and useful as a commodity but for little else. 'Kin' means 'Family' in several languages and 'Soul' in others."

"No blatant religious overtones." Nyx said softly. "No blatant overtones period. Hmmm... And gold is your royal color?"

"Yeah." Talia said with a smile. "The others say I look good in it, but Belina is a marvelous seamstress. She designed this." She spun in place showing off her gown and Nyx had to smile. "What do you think?"

"You look good, Empress Talia." Nyx said, bowing her head, only to pause as Talia snarled at her. "Wha-?"

"Tenno bow to _no one_." Talia said with a snap. "And certainly not to _me_. _Never_ to me. _You_ and _your kin_ will be the check on _me_." Nyx froze and Talia nodded. "Power corrupts, Nyx. I know this. I... I cannot allow that to happen. Not now. If I or any of my descendants go too far, you Tenno will stop me. Us." Nyx was shaking her head, tears threatening. "Nyx, please!" Talia begged. "The _only_ way I can trust myself with this kind of power is of _someone_ can stop me. Will do whatever it takes if it is needed."

"Talia..." Nyx, if anything, was more horrified. "I can't _kill_ you!"

"I hope it doesn't come to that." Talia said, calming. "But Nyx... the limits of this technology... I don't know if there _are_ any limits. Trinity is talking about genetically fixing birth defects in the womb. Nova is talking about terraforming planetoids to have breathable atmospheres. Moving planets to align for an interplanetary transportation system of some kind. I _think_ she was joking, but I am not sure." Nyx was frozen in place, somewhere between awe and horror. "And I am not even going to go into what Mag has found. It will give you nightmares and you will need your rest to heal."

"But..." Nyx protested. She cut off as Talia sighed.

"Nyx... The technology is out there." Talia said gently. "In mythological terms, the Genie is out of the bottle. Pandora's Box has been opened. The Apple of Knowledge has had a huge bite taken out of it. We cannot _stop_ it. We _can_ moderate it. Control it. Keep it from consuming humanity. The manufacturing nanites alone are going to _ruin_ every economy on Earth in short order when people realize they don't need to pay for things in any way except power anymore. We need to find a better way. A balanced way. And to do that, the Empire of Orokin will need guardians." Nyx stared at the Empress of Orokin and then, slowly rose to her feet. "Nyx..."

"I am Tenno." Nyx said, nodding. "I serve. Now and always."

"I accept your service." Talia said formally, then grimaced "Now _sit down_ before you collapse." She commanded. Nyx sat with a thump. "Silly Tenno. It could have waited until you rested a bit."

"All the others have sworn already, haven't they?" Nyx asked softly. Talia nodded. "Then yes, I had to do it now."

"I cannot say I am surprised that you are stubborn." Talia said with a snort. She shook her head. "My first command to your kin I will repeat to you. If you see me making a mistake, _stop me_. Preferably discretely, but if you have to be blatant, do so."

"I'll try to be discrete." Nyx said, a bit dazed by all this.

"Good." Talia said with a smile. "Now, we have a ceremony to attend."

"We do?" Nyx asked suspiciously. Talia chuckled.

"So paranoid." Talia said with a sigh. "Don't ever change, Nyx. Come..." She nodded to a door that opened. Nyx's eyes went wide as a warframe she didn't know stepped in, a long shaft in his hands that had golden blades on either end. He held it in a formal salute to both the Empress and Nyx.

"Konnichiwa, Nyx-sama." The voice of Shima-san -her ninjitsu teacher- came from the warframe. "I am Vauban."

"Ah..." Nyx swallowed and followed silently as the Empress led the way out the door. "Vauban?" She asked as the warframe closed the door and followed.

"French master of defensive fortifications." The Tenno replied with a smile in his voice. Nyx stared at him while urging her chair forward and he chuckled. "I like traps. What can I say?"

"Well, now I know how Master Hayden got you to come and teach us." Nyx replied with a snort. "Although I am assuming our training will continue."

"You assume correctly, sister Nyx." Vauban replied. Talia chuckled at her expression but they walked in silence. Then they entered another room, a familiar room. The observation lounge over the ceremonial chamber where Tenno assumed their warframes! Nyx's eyes nearly fell out of her head as she saw three forms kneeling in front of Mater Hayden below. Eric, Jack and Katrina!

"I..." Nyx suddenly felt faint and Talia took a hand in both of hers.

"Ling is still in physical therapy." Talia said sadly. "But he has chosen already. I am not sure I want to know _why_ he picked the codename of 'Loki'."

"But the others..." Nyx swallowed, staring. "If it has only been a _month_..."

"You are an excellent teacher, Nyx-sama." Vauban replied softly. "They are ready." Nyx was shaking her head, tears falling as a familiar voice came from below.

"You have passed your final tests, my kin." Hayden wore his armor with helmet closed as before. "Are you ready to assume the burden?"

"We are, Master Hayden." The three replied in unison. This time, Nyx had no urge to scoff.

"Do you swear to follow the Code?" Hayden asked calmly. "To serve? Not to lead. Never to rule. Tenno are unsuited for such roles. We are soldiers. First, last and only, we exist to place ourselves, our skills and our weapons between those who would cause harm and the innocent."

"We do." Eric, Jack and Katrina replied evenly.

"We are Tenno." Hayden said softly. "Held to a higher standard. We exist because of evil, but we are not evil. We can be hard. We can be pragmatic. But we will not be cruel simply to do it. Our Way is hard enough without adding moral contradictions on top of it."

"We will keep to the Way, Master Hayden." The three young aspirants said calmly.

"Have you chosen your warframe?" Hayden said as warframes appeared in circles of light against the walls.

"Yes, Master Hayden." The three replied. Each rose and moved to different warframes. Eric towards one that had a single horn in the middle of its forehead and a golden cradle on its faceplate. Jack towards a warframe that had coils around each upper arm. Katrina towards a warframe that had a long elongated head piece that stretched behind the head and over the back.

"Take up your burdens, brothers and sister." Hayden said sadly. "We will mourn you and welcome you."

All three of the young Tenno vanished behind their warframes and then they seemed to come alive. It moved. Parts of the bio-technological armor moved as if crawling. No one moved in the observation lounge as screams came from three young throats. Nyx was crying hard now. Finally, the screams ended and the three newest Tenno to assume warframes stepped forward.

"Welcome, my brothers and sister." Hayden said fondly. "What are your names?" The two males nodded, but stepped back for the female to speak first.

"I am Banshee." The female Tenno said calmly, her past falling away and her future opening up.

"I am Volt." The one with coils said, a haze of anger underlying his words, but controlled.

"I am Excalibur." The final Warframe spoke calmly.

"Welcome, Banshee, Volt and Excalibur." Hayden said, rising to bow to his kin who bowed back. "Welcome to Orokin."


End file.
